1)
The economics ministry said on Saturday that Taiwan is expected to join a newly concluded information technology agreement by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The ministry said Taiwan will join the agreement after a consultation process with local industrial associations next week.
A total of 54 WTO members, including Taiwan, reached an IT agreement in Geneva Friday to allow a wide range of high-tech devices to enjoy a tariff-free status. The IT agreement is an expansion of the 1997 Information Technology Agreement. It is also the WTO’s first tariff-free accord in 18 years.
However, Taiwan is one of the five countries that did not sign the agreement, although it is one of the 54 participating WTO members to conclude the deal. During negotiations, Taiwan had insisted that flat panels be included into the agreement, but it failed to persuade other participants to agree. In addition to Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, Colombia, and Mauritius also did not sign the agreement for different reasons. This left the deal short of a quorum needed to bring it into force for all 161 WTO members.
2)
Police arrested 33 protestors late Thursday night for intruding into the Ministry of Education building. The police also said 18 people broke into the education minister’s office.
The protestors demanded that the government drop the controversial revision of high school curriculum guidelines. Protestors say the textbooks are presented from the perspective of unification with China.
More than 200 people began an overnight protest from Wednesday afternoon. Saying that their demands have yet to be met, the protestors gathered again late Thursday.
Earlier this year, an administrative court ruled that the adjustment of high school curriculum guidelines violated the law because it did not follow due process.
In a press conference on Friday, Education Minister Wu Se-hwa said the ministry will press charges against the intruders. Of the 33 people arrested, 24 are students and three are journalists. 11 students who are minors have since been released. The three journalists said their arrests violated press freedom.
3)
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) protested against the use of a building resembling Taiwan’s Presidential Office in China’s recent military exercises.
MAC spokeswoman Wu Mei-hung criticized China’s move in a routine press conference on Thursday. She said that footage showing the building has provoked anger in Taiwanese society. She also said that the Chinese military’s actions have not helped the two sides further relations.