The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s proposed trade agreement with China could seriously undermine Taiwan’s economic competitiveness, speakers at a conference in Taipei said yesterday.
“Taiwan’s manufacturing industry is already a hollow shell. The [proposed] economic cooperation framework agreement [ECFA] will further increase China’s economic advantages relative to Taiwan,” said John Tkacik, a retired US diplomat and former Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “This problem is what former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) tried to avoid, but has now become a fact ... the independence of Taiwan’s economy is becoming marginalized.”
The government has insisted that the ECFA will pave the way for other free-trade agreements with Asian countries and enhance national economic competitiveness.
It has also expressed optimism that it can wrap up negotiations over the planned pact this year.
Labor and farming organizations, however, have criticized the proposed pact, fearing it could marginalize farmers and increase Taiwan’s economic reliance on China.
Professor Nakajima Mineo, who is also president of Japan’s Akita International University (AIU), told the conference yesterday that he did not foresee any benefits for Taiwan within the next few years if the ECFA is signed.
He also said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies toward China, including an ECFA, could result in “negative consequences,” adding that Ma had skewed Taiwan’s relationship with the US and Japan.
This issue was also addressed by Tkacik, who said Taiwan’s trade relationship with the US had declined notably since Ma was inaugurated as president in 2008.
“Since Ma’s administration was elected, bilateral trade between Taiwan and the US has declined 15 to 20 percent,” he said.
The conference, hosted by the US-based World Taiwanese Congress and the Taiwan Nation Alliance, also included discussions on issues including Taiwanese independence and ways to gain both international and domestic support for such a move.
Speaking during the conference, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Ma’s policies that emphasize Chinese over Taiwanese culture did not properly reflect popular opinion, given that more people in the nation identify themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese.
“From 1999 to October 2009, the percentage of people identifying themselves as Taiwanese increased from 43 percent to 76 percent. Meanwhile, the number seeing themselves as Chinese fell from 21 percent to 10 percent,” she said.
However, increased identification with Taiwan does not necessarily translate into increased acknowledgement of Taiwan’s sovereignty, she said. Tsai said this has become more of an issue under Ma’s government, which she accused of deliberately downplaying sovereignty whenever dealing with Chinese issues.
In reference to an ECFA, Tsai said that while Ma maintains he has safeguarded the nation’s sovereignty, many international observers interpret the agreement as a move toward unification with China.
“Although President Ma has told us that he is not selling our sovereignty, his methods have already led many to question whether the boundary between Taiwan and China is already becoming blurred,” Tsai said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Also See: Lee calls for deepening democracy
Also See: Taiwan needs ECFA with China, Siew says
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2