The four agreements signed by Taipei and Beijing last November were nothing but “window dressing,” experts attending a cross-strait forum said yesterday, urging the government to pressure Beijing to quit blocking other countries from signing free-trade agreements (FTA) with Taiwan as both sides mull an economic pact.
Wednesday will mark the agreements’ first anniversary after they were signed on Nov. 4 last year by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait. The agreements addressed direct sea links, daily charter flights, direct postal services and food safety.
National Taiwan University economics professor Kenneth Lin (林向愷) told the forum that the government led by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) advertised only the benefits signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), without explaining its negative impacts.
“Once an ECFA is signed and implemented in the ‘economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait (海西經濟區)’ as Beijing wishes, Taiwan’s economy is bound to be hollowed out like that of the outlying islands of Penghu,” he said at a forum held by the Taiwan Thinktank in Taipei to review the four agreements’ effectiveness.
The think tank is generally regarded as leaning toward the pan-green camp.
“While the Ma administration is making aggressive efforts to improve economic relations with Beijing, they should set the precondition that Beijing does not stop other countries from signing FTAs with Taiwan,” Lin said.
Lin also urged the government to let the public vote on the necessity of an ECFA, saying it would only work to the administration’s advantage at the negotiating table if it passes.
Lin said the four agreements denigrated Taiwan’s sovereignty and were based on China’s interests rather those of Taiwan.
The air transportation links, for example, were defined as “special aviation routes” and bar foreign aviation firms from taking part, he said. The result is a “hub-and-spoke distribution network,” he said, with China as the hub and cargo and passengers passing through it on their way to multiple destinations.
While the government set its eyes on Chinese tourists, the increase in their number not only affects the quality of tourism, but also crowds out visitors from other countries such as Japan, he said.
“But we don’t see the government address the problem,” he said. “The government firmly believes in free trade, but is free trade between Taiwan and China really good for us?”
Tung Li-wen (董立文), a professor at the Graduate School of Public Security at Central Police University, said that despite the agreements, Taiwan must “beg” China to honor them when it doesn’t.
“The two sides will sign more [agreements] in the future, including an ECFA and financial memorandums of understanding. But what we see so far is that China takes a ‘salami slicing’ approach to deal with the agreements it has signed,” he said.
He added that Ma’s zest to improve economic ties was the result of making too many promises before the presidential election in an effort to humiliate the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after taking office.
“China’s communist regime is good at fooling people, and the Ma administration’s job is cheating its people,” he said.
Tung said that while both sides had signed the “Kinmen Accord” in 1991 to extradite illegal immigrants and criminals to the other side of the Taiwan Strait, “China extradited only when it pleased them and turned up its nose when it did not.”
Both sides signed an agreement on cross-strait cooperation to fight crime in June, but no criminals have been sent back to Taiwan through the mechanism, he said.
China sees signing the agreements as one thing and implementing them as another, Tung said. For example, Tung said smuggling was still rampant.
In addition, China may agree to one thing but obstruct it through technical means, Tung said.
While China agrees to allow more tourists to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese travel agencies must be approved by China to handle the matter, he said, noting that Taiwanese vessels can transport cross-strait goods only if they are registered in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Chen Ming-sheng (陳明生), assistant to DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), told the forum that their long-term tracking of China’s handling of the melamine controversy suggested Beijing was not serious about addressing the problem.
Chen was referring to the public health scare in October last year caused by melamine-contaminated imports from China.
Twelve Taiwanese firms have asked for a total of NT$700 million (US$21 million) in compensation from Duqing, the Chinese supplier of a contaminated non-dairy creamer, and from Sanlu, the now-bankrupt dairy firm that also sold melamine-contaminated milk powder.
China has not responded, even though food safety was included in the the four pacts signed last year.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source