Integrity Legal

It recently came to this blogger’s attention that China and the United Kingdom have apparently concluded a revision of those nations’ double tax treaty. To provide further insight into these events this blogger is compelled to quote directly from the website of Accountancy Age, AccountancyAge.com:

REVISIONS TO THE double taxation treaty between the UK and China will reduce the withholding tax on dividends received by UK investors from Chinese companies. The document revisions coincide with the visit of Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. They reduce the withholding tax on dividends paid out by Chinese companies to 5% from 10%. This will apply to people holding at least 25% shares in a Chinese company and the rate will remain at 10% for other dividends. There has also been a small change in the treatment of royalties, with some royalties being charged at 6%, down from 7%.

Manila, July 16 (CNA) Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs is asking the country’s businesses to wait patiently for Taiwan to sign economic cooperation pacts with other Southeast Asian countries because Singapore and China are the trade negotiation priorities at present…There are over 8,000 items being discussed in follow-up negotiations with China, and substantive talks are also being held with Singapore, making it hard to give the necessary attention to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Shih said…The minister acknowledged, however, that ASEAN was an area with which Taiwan needed to forge a free trade agreement or economic cooperation agreement…

Readers are strongly encouraged to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to read the article in full.

As the ASEAN region continues to thrive economically there appears to be a growing yearning for ASEAN trade agreements from nations outside the region. This news comes shortly after the recent announcement that a sort of pan-ASEAN visa, similar to the Schengen Visa, will be one topic of discussion amongst ASEAN leaders. How any of these events will ultimately play out remains to be seen, but there are certainly those who would speculate that many of the topics noted above are positive developments.

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Tags: ASEAN, ASEAN Visa, ASsociation of Southeast ASian Nations, China, Chinese companies, Chinese company, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, dividends, double taxation treaty, economic cooperation agreement, Free Trade Agreement, International agreements, royalties, Schengen Visa, Singapore, Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs, Treaties, Treaty, UK investors
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It recently came to this blogger’s attention that the upcoming ASEAN Ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia will discuss the notion of something akin to an ASEAN Schengen-like visa. In order to provide further insight into these matters it is probably best to quote directly from the official website of the Thai News Agency MCOT, MCOT.net:

Jakarta, July 14 (ANTARA) – Indonesia is to bring up the issue of instituting a joint ASEAN visa system at an ASEAN ministerial meeting (AMM) next July 16-23, a minister said. “The idea to adopt a joint ASEAN visa system for visitors from outside the ASEAN region will be discussed during a ministerial meeting in Bali. The concept of a joint visa system will resemble the Schengen visa system adhered to by some European countries,” Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Thursday… Earlier, the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) comprised of member tourism organization from the 10-member nations of ASEAN, is busy lobbying their respective governments to adopt a policy of a single visa valid for all ten countries as a critical step of turning ASEAN into a single tourism destination…

The administration of this web log strongly encourages readers to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to delve further into the details of these currently unfolding events.

Readers may recall that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is composed of the ten members nations Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam which are becoming increasingly vibrant in the overall spectrum of the global economy. Furthermore, there is an increasing amount of trade transpiring throughout Asia. Much of this trade occurs between ASEAN jurisdictions or between ASEAN countries and jurisdictions such as the United States of America, the so-called BRICS Nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), or the Greater Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, it is not an overestimate to surmise that the ramifications of the creation of some type of pan-ASEAN visa or similar travel document would, at the least, be a step toward possible further streamlining of tourism and trade in the ASEAN region.

This news comes at a relatively contemporaneous moment with that of news that discussions in Bali may also revolve around recent discussions pertaining to the South China Sea. In order to provide further insight into these developments it may be best to quote directly from the official website of The Mainichi Daily News, Mainichi.jp:

JAKARTA (Kyodo) — The 44th meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations in Bali next week is expected to bring the regional grouping and China closer step to finalizing of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, according to a draft of joint communique of the meeting seen Wednesday. The draft obtained by Kyodo News shows ASEAN and China, one of the group’s dialogue partners, have begun discussion on the Code of Conduct “by building upon the momentum of the 20th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations” which falls this year…In the same draft, both sides are also expected to repeat the calls on all parties to respect the freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea as provided for by the principles of international law…

The reader is again asked to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to read further from this insightful article.

With this news coming upon the heels of a recent trip by the Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff to China and the announcement that United States President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend the upcoming meeting in Bali it is not a difficult inference to make the conclusion that discussions at the upcoming meeting could result in substantial economic, political, and legal benefits for all concerned.

Tags: 44th meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, AMM, ASEAN, ASEAN jurisdictions, ASEAN ministerial meeting, ASEAN Tourism Association, ASEAN-China dialogue, ASEANTA, Asia-Pacific region, ASsociation of Southeast ASian Nations, BRICS, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Code of Conduct, Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, freedom of navigation, freedom of navigation in and over-flight above the South China Sea, Indonesia, international law, joint ASEAN visa system, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, over-flight above, Philippines, Schengen visa system, Singapore, single tourism destination, single visa valid for all ten ASEAN countries, South China Sea, Thailand, Vietnam
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