The legislature yesterday denied it was delaying a negative report on the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China for fear that it may affect the signing of a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) later this month.
Legislative Yuan Secretary-General Lin Hsi-shan (林錫山) made the remarks in response to an article in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) yesterday that quoted former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Parris Chang (張旭成) as saying that a senior official at the legislature had decided to delay the report after listening to a briefing by members of the Budget Center and Organic Laws and Statutes Bureau on June 11.
The Liberty Times quoted Chang as saying that the senior official believed the initial evaluation was “very negative” and could undermine the signing of an ECFA.
Taiwan and China are scheduled to hold the fifth round of cross-strait talks in the Chinese city of Chongqing from Monday to Wednesday next week, during which the ECFA could be signed.
The report quoted Chang as saying that the legislature’s initial evaluation showed that the majority of Hong Kong’s enterprises had relocated to China since Hong Kong signed the CEPA with China in 2003.
The initial evaluation also showed that the gap between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong had been widening since the signing of the CEPA and that there had been an increase in the number of people living in poverty, Chang said.
Lin said that officials at the center and the bureau did travel to Hong Kong recently to examine a number of issues, with the CEPA being part of the agenda.
The officials, however, had not completed the evaluation report since the “early harvest” lists had not been finalized and it would be impossible to compare and contrast the CEPA and the ECFA, Lin said.
The early harvest lists refer to goods and services that would be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which are expected to form the backbone of the proposed agreement.
Lin said the bureau, which serves as an advisory organization to legislators, will complete and release the report as soon as the early harvest lists are finalized.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) yesterday questioned the validity of Chang’s allegations, saying that “we, the current legislators, have no knowledge of this matter, let alone a former legislator.”
The DPP caucus held a press conference yesterday criticizing the decision and demanded that the legislature immediately make public the contents of the report.
“It’s important for the legislature to monitor [an ECFA], both before and after it is signed. Their attitude is not proper,” DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said.
DPP lawmakers say the report was important because it allegedly finds that Hong Kong’s income disparity is the highest in the word, a trend that appears to have been exacerbated by the passage of the CEPA.
“Last year, the UN found that Hong Kong’s income disparity was the most problematic in the world. At the same time, there are record numbers of people living below the poverty line in Hong Kong,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. “These are all important figures and information that they are afraid of releasing.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
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