Siew urges careful response to new law

The government should keep a cool head in gauging the complications of Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law and should continue trade and economic exchanges to thaw ties between Taiwan and China, a leading domestic economist said yesterday.

The president of the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中經院), Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) -- who is also head of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) economic advisory panel -- made the call in an exclusive interview with the Central News Agency. Siew, a seasoned technocrat, served as premier in the previous Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government from 1998 to 2000.

Siew agreed that the government should lodge a strong protest against Beijing's Anti-Secession Law, but advised it to maintain sound economic and trade exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

Siew said that cross-strait economic activities might be affected in the short term by the Anti-Secession Law, but urged the government to adopt an opening policy to allow for continued interaction between the two sides to offset the law's impact on Taiwan.

He urged the government to be aware of the fact that policies that go against market trends are doomed. As the government still needs to resolve various thorny issues, such as permitting high-tech investment in China and setting up direct transport links, he proposed that the government follow market trends as a means of improving the fragile cross-strait relations.