The long, drawn-out battle between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on the cross-strait service trade agreement is still going on and has entered yet another phase. One of the most shocking things about the whole standoff is not the physical altercations between the two parties over the agreement, but rather that they have not moved forward after 16 public hearings and after the review of the pact was extended by more than three months.
The most shameful thing in all of this is that both sides are only interested in protecting their own interests and have been unwilling to answer any questions that might make them look bad. The KMT government announced that it set aside NT$98 billion (US$3.2 billion) to provide the service sector with trade assistance, but it has never responded to any of the challenges by the opposition party that this figure is exaggerated. Furthermore, the industries most under threat from the agreement still know nothing about the standards and procedures for gaining access to the subsidies. Ever since the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was passed, the government has not submitted any assessment reports, nor has it protested to China over those parts of the agreement Beijing is blocking. It has also avoided answering any of the questions regarding the parts of the agreement that are unfairly in China’s favor.
The DPP has also shown itself to be equally skilled when it comes to focusing on unimportant issues while ignoring more serious concerns. The DPP’s biggest problem is that it has never offered an explanation of how Taiwan will be able join the the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership — also known as ASEAN Plus Three — if they are unable to first solve the issues surrounding the ECFA and the service trade agreement. DPP legislators only need to ask the Office of Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to understand the difficulties the nation faces over foreign trade talks. It has long been the case in Southeast Asian trade politics that ASEAN members are unwilling to offend China, but the DPP has deliberately ignored this.
Does the DPP really think it can solve Taiwan’s international isolation by blaming everything on Chinese oppression?
The DPP has also claimed that the highest priority should be given to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), although the US has always had very strict demands on Taipei when it comes to trade liberalization, and the DPP has strongly resisted the importation of US pork. How will it ever be able to open talks on the TPP?
The US may not only want Taiwan to allow the importation of US pork, but also the majority of the US’ agricultural products. In addition, as soon as the nation joins the TPP, it will also have to open up to imports from Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, which will have an even greater impact on industry. How much credibility can a political party have when it is opposed to the importation of US pork, but then turns around and mouths off about giving priority to the TPP, which involves a much higher degree of liberalization?
The DPP views the service trade agreement as part of a Chinese plot to use economic means to force Taiwan into political submission. Given that it is so suspicious of the political motives behind cross-strait trade, how is it that they can allow DPP mayors and county commissioners to constantly travel to China in the hope of opening up direct flights, attracting Chinese tourists and Chinese investment? The DPP and its legislative caucus are strongly opposed to cross-strait trade, while DPP mayors and county commissioners openly welcome cross-strait trade. The double standards within the DPP are patently obvious and it has never attempted to justify its actions.
The standoff between the KMT and the DPP over the service trade agreement is a terrible state of affairs. The KMT has acted in a self-righteous manner, failed to communicate enough, showed that it is not prepared and has been unable to come up with any complementary measures. The DPP has shown that it is merely interested in politics, applies double standards and is incapable of coming up with any alternative strategies. With this lack of dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties, Taiwan will continue to regress, South Korea will leave it further behind and the nation’s marginalization will become increasingly severe.
Julian Kuo is a former Democratic Progressive Party legislator.
Translated by Drew Cameron
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trip to China provides a pertinent reminder of why Taiwanese protested so vociferously against attempts to force through the cross-strait service trade agreement in 2014 and why, since Ma’s presidential election win in 2012, they have not voted in another Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate. While the nation narrowly avoided tragedy — the treaty would have put Taiwan on the path toward the demobilization of its democracy, which Courtney Donovan Smith wrote about in the Taipei Times in “With the Sunflower movement Taiwan dodged a bullet” — Ma’s political swansong in China, which included fawning dithyrambs