President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday promised to keep the negotiation process on signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China transparent, adding that he would minimize any damage the economic pact could have on the nation.
In a press conference held to deepen public understanding of the proposed agreement, Ma said the agenda for ECFA talks would include tariff reductions, protecting Taiwanese businessmen’s investments in China and protecting intellectual property rights.
Ma reiterated his promise to keep the public informed about the negotiation process and send agreements to the legislature for approval. However, Ma appeared to disagree about the need to set up a legislative task force to monitor cross-strait policies and negotiations, a request made by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“The government is willing to be monitored, but we hope the job can be done by the legislature under the current constitutional system,” he said yesterday in the Presidential Office.
Ma said the Mainland Affairs Council and other government bodies are reporting on the negotiation process and its results to the caucus representative meeting convened by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) after each round of negotiations, and said this mechanism already functioned as a cross-strait “task force.”
Ma said the reason his administration wants the pact with Beijing is because China is Taiwan’s biggest trading partner and that once an ECFA is signed, barriers to Taiwan’s effort to sign FTAs with ASEAN countries would be reduced.
Ma said he realized it was not Beijing’s policy to help Taiwan ink FTAs with other countries, but said if Taiwan continues to be isolated internationally, it would be hard to boost cross-strait relations.
He acknowledged the ECFA would bring both opportunities and risks for the nation but reiterated that the government would take measures to minimize any damage.
These would include not opening Taiwan’s market to Chinese labor or relaxing import restrictions on agricultural products from China.
The government would also provide necessary assistance to local industries, he said.
Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), MAC Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) and Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) accompanied Ma to the press conference.
When asked whether the government would follow the original schedule of inking the ECFA in May, Ma said there was no timetable for signing the pact, but said the government would ensure no political language was included in the pact.
“We will keep the ECFA economic and no political terms, such as ‘peaceful unification’ or ‘one country, two system’s will appear in the pact,” he said.
The government will continue to explain the ECFA to the public, Ma said, adding that Siew and Wu will visit southern Taiwan to speak to people in Taiwanese.
Meanwhile, Wu yesterday remained non-committal on the DPP request for a task force, repeating Ma’s comments that with the regular briefings lawmakers will be able to exercise effective legislative oversight.
Wu said that the executive branch might need to talk to lawmakers up to 10 times before completing the negotiations, with five briefings in legislative committees and the other five in informal settings with Wang and legislative caucus whips.
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