Little was accomplished after Taipei and Beijing concluded the second round of official negotiations on a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) in Dasi (大溪), Taoyuan County, early yesterday.
It was expected that the talks would last two full days and end yesterday evening, but the discussions on the final day took only half a day. Negotiations focused on the “early harvest” items proposed for traded goods and services, as well as regulations on the labeling of product origin and the text of a proposed ECFA.
The “early harvest” list refers to a list of goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which are expected to form the backbone of the proposed deal.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Tang Wei (唐煒), head of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau under China’s Ministry of Commerce, refused to reveal the “early harvest” items proposed by each side after the three-hour meeting that concluded the negotiations.
“It’s hard for me to say,” he said. “We didn’t come to an agreement ... We are still negotiating.”
Tang was also evasive about the next round of negotiations, saying it would be up to the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), to arrange.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
Lee Li-jane (李麗珍), director of the Mainland Affairs Council’s Department of Economic Affairs, said it was meaningless to speculate how many rounds of negotiations would be needed before the planned accord is signed.
“Since our goal for signing the agreement is May or June, we will do our best to finish all the negotiations before that,” she said.
Urging Taiwanese media to refer to the negotiations as “expert-level discussions,” Tang said both sides “agreed on many things” and that there was a “new development.”
On the “early harvest” list, Tang said both sides agreed to base negotiations on the principle of “fast, easy and less” — focusing on industries that are urgent, necessary and of common concern.
Beijing would take into consideration the difference in scope between Taiwan and China’s economy and business competitiveness, he said, while adding that Taipei should realize that China also has weaker businesses that require protection, which actually outnumber their Taiwanese counterparts.
Tang said the Chinese delegation fully understood the concerns of Taiwanese farmers and did not request that Taipei import more Chinese agricultural products.
Both sides agreed on the mechanism and timetable for labeling of product origin, but neither side offered any details.
Asked whether China did not agree to add wording such as “trade normalization” in the text of the agreement, Tang said the agreement would not include “liberalization” because bilateral trade had yet to be liberalized.
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Liang Kuo-hsin (梁國新) said the two sides achieved wide consensus during the “official negotiations,” but added that neither side revealed their “early harvest” lists at the negotiation table.
“We are starting to see a clearer picture,” he said. “Until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed.”
To sum up the negotiations, Liang said: “We got what they wanted and safeguarded what we wanted to protect.”
Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬), the head of the Taiwanese delegation, said the proposed ECFA would not touch on imports of more Chinese workers because it was the Taiwanese government’s policy and promise.
The proposed accord would address the protection of intellectual property rights and investment, he said, adding that both sides would also arrange another time to discuss whether to include the financial industry in the “early harvest” list.
During a banquet last night, Tang said both sides resolved many problems over the past two days and that he hoped they were “at the last stage as success is near.”
Outside the talk’s venue yesterday morning, the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) mobilized about 30 members to voice their support for the trade pact.
Law enforcement authorities deployed at the road leading to Ta Shee Resort, where the meeting was being held, ordered the group to refrain from getting closer to the handful of demonstrators protesting nearby against an ECFA.
The CUPP is a political group established by Chang An-le (張安樂), the former leader of the Bamboo Union gang. He is also known as “White Wolf.”
A man named Chang Chih-min (張志民) was quoted by the Central News Agency as saying that the group initially had no plans of mobilizing people to the venue.
“But after seeing the protest staged by the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] yesterday [Wednesday,] the chief [Chang An-le] wanted us to come over and express our support [for an ECFA] so that it doesn’t appear one-sided, with only people who oppose the pact,” he was quoted as saying.
Members of the group staged a protest when police, some clad in riot gear, questioned some of the group members dressed in black.
The move drew opposition from the group, which accused the police of being unfair.
“We are patriotic, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the DPP who bullied you [police] yesterday,” several members told the police.
In response, Shih Chung-chin (施忠進), head of Dasi Precinct’s Criminal Investigation Corps, said they had to question the black-clad members as they had to be accountable to the public.
“We had to do it or the public would criticize the police for not taking precautionary steps to prevent potential clashes or criminal activity,” Shih said, adding that police had to determine whether there were minors in the group.
The group dispersed at about 10am after CUPP spokesman Tang Ching-sheng (唐警生) arrived and led them in chanting slogans in support of an ECFA.
Around noon, Tung Chung-yan (童仲彥), a former political talk show host on Formosa TV who staged a one-man protest at the lobby of Ta Shee Resort, found himself surrounded by police.
Chanting “Taiwan, China are two countries on each side of the Taiwan Strait,” Tung, who is runing for Taipei City councilor in November, introduced himself before he began his protest. Tung was surrounded by the police and media before he was forced into a police car.
At a separate setting, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he “could not guarantee” other countries would want to negotiate a free-trade agreement [FTA] with Taiwan after both sides sign an ECFA.
“But the atmosphere will at least improve,” he said while meeting board members of the Junior Chamber International Taiwan at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
“As the president of the Republic of China, I have the responsibility to lead a way out for Taiwan,” he said. “Only by opening up can Taiwan become more prosperous. Walling ourselves in will only lead to recession.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG AND STAFF WRITER
Also See: KMT’s Alex Tsai draws fire from DPP
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the