Signs of the times

Taiwan opens stock market to China QDII investors

TAIPEI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The Taiwan Cabinet said on Thursday it will open its local stock and futures markets to qualified direct institutional investors (QDII) from China, in its latest bid to prop up the sagging stock market....

The new plan could allow up to US$1.125 billion from QDIIs into the stock market, according to estimates from industry observers....

But observers said they did not expect the QDII funds, used by big mainland Chinese banks and other institutional buyers, to buy Taiwan stocks anytime soon until China sets up a framework officially allowing such investment.

OK, now number two on the Chiang-Chen agreeemnts; please read the whole article for lots of details on what sections the DPP was challenging as illegal without amending laws:

Amid heated debate and verbal disputes, the four agreements signed by Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) last month passed the Legislative Yuan’s joint committee review yesterday....

One of the disputes was over the issue of exemptions from income and business taxes for marine transport companies on revenues from cross-strait cargo services.

Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Hsin-yuan (賴幸媛) and Vice Chairman Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) insisted that the exemptions were legal, but DPP lawmakers challenged that view.

“Any tax breaks — including those for the automobile industry recently proposed by the government — require a revision of the tax laws,” DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said during a question-and-answer session of a joint meeting of the Internal Administration Committee and the Transportation, Health, Environment and Labor Committee....

The agreements will be sent to the legislature’s General Assembly for approval today.

And since the leiglsature's already reviewed them, here is the result:

The ruling KMT caucus had decided to review the agreements today, which was postponed in case of opposition protests to the shopping voucher special statute due to pass on the same day Friday. Thus, three agreements of sea transport, direct flight, and postal links will automatically be effective on Dec. 7 in accordance with regulation that agreements will take effect automatically if not reviewed by the Legislative Yuan within one month of the signing.

And finally there's this article in the Liberty Times, which says yesterday morning Taiwanese food products arrived at Shanghai harbor. They belonged to a number of Taiwanese businessmen who were in a group of 68 companies being led by the International Trade Institute (外貿協會) to a food expo in Shanghai. Customs spotted "Made in ROC" on some of the packaging and began to more carefully inspect the products. Four or five companies had similar "Made in ROC" markings. The Taiwan respresentative was asked to scratch out/black out each instance or ROC before their material could clear customs and come into China.

According to the article, some customs guys even went to the expo today and asked Taiwanese businessmen to scratch out the ROC on their business cards.