President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday emphasized the necessity of signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing, saying Taiwan cannot afford to fall behind in economic integration in the region.
“As regional integration among ASEAN countries gathers momentum, Taiwan cannot allow itself to fall behind and we are confident that we can strengthen our effort to keep abreast with international trends,” Ma said, speaking in English in a speech at the opening of an international conference on economic cooperation and strategy between Taiwan and ASEAN in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
The government has signed nine agreements with Beijing since he took office and is stepping up efforts to ink an ECFA, he said, adding that the planned pact is “leading to more functional cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.”
Emphasizing that ASEAN has become more influential in East Asia politically, economically and strategically, Ma said Taiwan supports regional free-trade agreements (FTA) initiated by other APEC members.
While the region saw only three FTAs signed in 2000, the number jumped to 56 as of August this year, he said.
“There are very few countries in the region that have not been connected by FTA,” Ma said in English. “Notably among those which are not connected, one is North Korea and the other is Taiwan. So we think, we think we should work harder to become part of the economic integration process.”
Using a talk he gave in October 2003 in Singapore at a World Economic Forum event, he said “Why not 10 plus four,” referring to 10 ASEAN countries plus China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
“Taiwan is very eager to become part of the economic integration process, so that we won’t be further isolated or marginalized,” he said. “So I hope our effort to increase research and communication with ASEAN countries will also pave the way for a new era where Taiwan can more freely pursue the idea to have more, greater participation in the regional economic integration process.”
It is evident that the framework required for the formation of a regional economic bloc is already in place, he said, adding that how this will develop in the future is not clear, although discussions on this issue are well under way.
Meanwhile, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday dismissed an accusation by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) that SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) was likely to benefit from an agreement Taiwan and China intend to sign next week through a company for which he is honorary chairman.
SEF spokesman Maa Shaw-chang (馬紹章) said the agreement on cooperation in standard inspection and certification aimed to protect consumers, not benefit the company Sinocon Industrial Standards Foundation.
The firm’s business does not overlap with items covered by the agreement, he said, adding that Chiang was not involved in the negotiations and did not participate in the company’s activities or affairs.
In related news, a former China-based Taiwanese businessman petitioned the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday to protect the interests of small and medium-size Taiwanese merchants, rather than those of big businesses.
William Kao (高為邦), president of the Victims of Investment in China Association, urged the council to place the issue on the agenda of cross-strait negotiations and criticized those negotiations as a platform for the “rich and powerful” among the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party.
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