Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) yesterday engaged in a heated debate with members of the public who criticized the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing.
Addressing members of the Taipei West chapter of the Rotary Club, Lai said Taiwan would suffer economic “discrimination” if it did not sign an ECFA with Beijing.
Without an ECFA, Lai said, Taiwanese products exported to China would be taxed between 6 percent and 11 percent more than those from ASEAN countries.
She said the government would map out measures to safeguard the interests of local businesses.
There are also stratagems in place under the WTO framework, she said, adding that it was up to the government to implement them.
A club member, Alan Lin (林瓊瀛), questioned the government’s movement toward signing an ECFA, saying it seemed the government had made up its mind before even carrying out an assessment of the potential impact.
“It is like telling us unification with Beijing is the only choice and then we can talk about details later,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
In response, Lai said the council would continue to communicate with the public, the legislature and Beijing, adding that she understood there was much room for improvement in that regard.
Another club member, Vincent Huang (黃政枝), said that while Lai mentioned peace and prosperity in her speech, she should tell Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) about their importance.
In response, Lai said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shuan (劉兆玄) had repeatedly addressed the issue of China’s military threat and demanded that Beijing remove its missiles targeted at Taiwan before both sides could negotiate a peace deal.
China must also understand that Taiwanese wanted to have a friendly neighbor and that military hostility would only hurt the feelings of Taiwanese, she said.
Huang also asked Lai to prove that opening the economy further to China would be beneficial.
Lai said Taiwan became a tiger economy in the 1980s and 1990s, but the world had since changed. As China is rising to become an economic powerhouse, Taiwan must realize this and adjust its policies.
Visibly unsatisfied with Lai’s answer, Huang asked Lai to explain how sovereignty was not sacrificed in cross-strait talks.
Lai said the two sides had entered a new stage of “mutual non-denial” and that this was equivalent to being “mutually not subordinate” to each other.
Lai said cross-strait talks were now attended by government officials, which proved the government’s existence.
The debate was cut short by the host because of time constraints.
A club member complained that Lai should not have been invited to the event because she was a politician. Another member said that since Lai worked for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, her only job was to promote KMT policies.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS