President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) claims that once Taiwan signs an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, it will become easier for the nation to sign free-trade agreements (FTAs) with other foreign countries. Even if he is not lying, the question remains: What will the nation be called in these agreements?
Hong Kong and New Zealand signed a Closer Economic Partnership (CEP) Agreement on March 29. Chapter 2 of the agreement refers to Hong Kong as “Hong Kong, China” and further defines it as the “Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China [PRC].” Article 2 of this chapter states that “in the case of Hong Kong, China, where an expression is qualified by the term ‘national,’ such interpretation shall be interpreted as pertaining to Hong Kong, China.” It also states that, “The term ‘international agreement’ shall include an agreement or arrangement entered into by Hong Kong, China, with other parts of the [PRC].”
According to the 1992 resolution of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, predecessor of the WTO, Taiwan and Hong Kong have the same status. They are “separate customs territories,” rather than independent and sovereign states. So Taiwan’s sovereignty status is the same as that of Hong Kong. After Taiwan signs an ECFA with China, it will continue to be further entrapped by China, just like Hong Kong. This is the conspiracy behind the proposed ECFA.
Chapter 5 of the CEP Agreement defines Hong Kong customs as the “Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong, China.” As this places Hong Kong’s customs department under China’s jurisdiction, it deprives Hong Kong of its WTO status as a separate customs territory. Taiwan may fall into the same trap if it does not pay attention.
Moreover, Chapter 13 of the agreement states that, with respect to Hong Kong, China, “natural person” means a permanent resident of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC. If Taiwan intends to sign FTAs with other countries, will it also need to take Beijing’s orders and define all Taiwanese as Chinese?
In the April 25 ECFA debate between Ma and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Ma said he would safeguard the Republic of China’s (ROC) sovereignty when Tsai asked him whether he would give up Taiwan’s sovereignty just to sign an ECFA. This is the key to the problem.
Not long ago, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) stressed that unless Taiwan draws a clear line between itself and the ROC, it would not be a problem of whether the DPP could regain power, but rather of whether Taiwan would perish.
In Sunday’s debate, Tsai did not rebut Ma’s claim that he would safeguard ROC sovereignty, which is cause for concern about Taiwan’s future. Are we waiting for a savior to deal with our problems, the final strategy proposed by Igor Ansoff, the father of risk management strategy?
Sim Kiantek is a former associate professor in the Department of Business Administration at National Chung Hsing University.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
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