Taiwan and China should use the WTO framework to discuss trade issues such as the opening of direct links, the head of the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.
But while Taiwan has hoped that WTO membership will allow Taipei and Beijing to negotiate economic issues on an equal footing, a breakthrough in cross-strait relations appears unlikely.
Beijing has said the international organization isn't the place to discuss certain issues -- particularly those it describes as being "domestic" in nature.
"We hope to negotiate the `three links' issue with China under the WTO structure," Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said yesterday.
President Chen Shui-bian (
"I hope both sides can use the WTO for cross-strait economic exchanges and dialogue," the president said.
Taiwan and China are expected to join the WTO at a meeting over the weekend in Qatar. Accession to the organization will confer on Taiwan and China equal status as members.
Membership in the group will allow the two sides of the Strait to work out trade disputes.
A political scientist noted yesterday that any request by Taiwan to discuss a trade issue with China should get a Chinese reply in 10 days, and negotiations should begin within 30 days.
Should the issue go unresolved or unanswered, Taiwan can invoke the WTO dispute mechanism -- which China might want to avoid since it insists its relationship with Taiwan is a domestic issue that should not involve foreigners.
But cross-strait transportation links would not be covered by the WTO's rules and Beijing would be under no obligation to discuss the matter with Taipei under the WTO framework.
In fact, Zhang Mingqing (張銘清), spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said last week that the WTO was not the place to discuss economic and trade issues that he called "China's domestic issues."
China has repeatedly said that direct transportation links are a domestic issue.
"The two sides can negotiate under the principle of `one China,'" Zhang said.
Taiwan has been eager to restart negotiations with China since China ceased bilateral negotiations after then president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) remark in July 1999 that cross-strait relations were "state to state" in nature.
Following Chen's victory in the last presidential election, China started demanding that Taiwan accept its "one China" principle as a condition for resuming dialogue.
In a gathering with the press earlier this week, Tsai said she hoped "the bilateral relationship will be diversified after both sides' entries into the WTO."
Taiwanese businesses investing in China have urged the government to lift the ban on the so-called "three links" for years.
The government had resisted those calls for national security reasons until the Economic Development Advisory Conference in August called for the opening of direct trade, postal and telecommunication and transportation links with China.
"Relaxing restrictions on trade with China is the first step. There will be more active efforts to restart bilateral negotiations," Tsai said in a press release yesterday.
Joining the WTO will be a tremendous victory for Taiwan, which is shut out of all major global organizations, including the UN.
China has pressured most nations and organizations not to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign entity -- though it's a major trading power and a vibrant Asian democracy.
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