Former presidential advisor says gap with China to close

A former senior government official said yesterday that Taiwan's technical prowess over China is temporary and that the nation must work with China to maintain its commercial competitiveness.

"Taiwan's self-proclaimed superiority over China in [terms of] technical development is not permanent," said Wang Tso-yung (王作榮), senior presidential advisor and former Control Yuan (監察院) president. "Barring any [Chinese] political hurdles in the next decade or two, China's technological development will surpass that of Taiwan's. A cooperative effort with the mainland will help Taiwan sustain its competitiveness," Wang added.

The often outspoken Wang also injected his opinions on the reunification issue, speculating that such an event, should it occur, would be a peaceful one.

"China and Taiwan will eventually unify ... there is a 95 percent chance the approach will be a peaceful one," Wang said, adding that Taiwan would be able to maintain a level of "sovereignty," without elaborating further.

Other participants at yesterday's seminar urged parties on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to focus more on economic links and less on politics in the lead up to WTO entry.

The seminar was co-sponsored by the Rising People Foundation (新興民族文教基金會) -- led by former DPP chairman Hsu Hsin-liang (許信良) -- and the New Taiwanese Cultural Foundation (新台灣人基金會).

According to former vice chairman of the Council of Economic Planning and Development (經建會), Schive Chi (薛琦), "In the best interests [of Taiwan and China] cross-strait relations should focus on economic ties and less on politics."

Citing Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院) statistics, Schive pointed out the economic benefits of WTO entry.

He estimated that during the first decade after accession into the trade organization, economic growth would increase an added 0.7 percent and average export and import growth add another 1.3 and 1.6 percent respectively.