ICRT stories today

A few I liked. Here they are:

Top China negotiator's Taiwan visit in the pipeline ...

The Mainland Affairs Council says Taipei and Beijing have reached a vague
consensus on a possible visit to Taiwan by China's top cross-strait
negotiator.

Although details remain to be confirmed ... Chen Yun-lin .... the president
of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits is expected to
visit Taiwan in late October, or early November.

M-A-C spokesman ... Liu Der-xun said the exact timing of the Chen's meeting
with the head of the Straits Exchange Foundation in Taiwan has not been
determined and that officials are continuing to exchange views on the matter.

However ... the D-P-P slammed the possible visit to Taiwan by Chen .. saying
that the party will not welcome his visit to Taiwan until China apologizes
and compensates individuals and companies who have sustained losses because
of the import tainted Chinese dairy products and foodstuffs.

Talks are slated to be held in late October, or early November at which deals
are expected to be signed on cross-strait cargo flights and direct maritime
links.

National pension system to begin operation October 1st ..

The Ministry of the Interior has said that the new National Pension system
will go into effect on October 1-st.

The new program is aimed at providing assistance to senior citizens and
disabled people who are not covered by other insurance policies.

According to the M-O-I ... the national pension system is open to anyone with
household registration aged between 25 and 65 who is not covered by other
social welfare insurance.

The new system will reportedly cover an estimated 3.53-million people,
including the unemployed, street vendors, housekeepers, naturalized foreign
spouses and students aged over 25 years of age.

However ... there has been criticism of the program .. with critics
expressing concern about the nation's financial state and political
stability.

The government will have to spend 28.47-billion N-T dollars next year on
national pension subsidies, while only 7.5-billion of surplus from the public
welfare lottery is expected to find its way into the national pension fund.