Recent comments by the Philippines’ trade and industry secretary cast doubt on the feasibility of Taiwan being able to sign free-trade agreements (FTA) with other economies in the region after it signs an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
A major pillar of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) rationale for signing the controversial trade pact has been that the ECFA would pave the way for such agreements.
“Our ‘one China’ policy stands. An FTA with Taiwan is still too early to say and … our commercial matters with Taiwan are being handled adequately through the JEC [Philippines-Taiwan Joint Economic Conference],” Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli A. Lapus was quoted by Manila Bulletin as saying on June 22.
Lapus said the JEC was working well and that the next meeting between Taiwanese and Philippine representatives — the 17th — would be held in Taiwan. The JEC was initially scheduled to be held in the first quarter, but was rescheduled to the fourth quarter to accommodate the entry of a new administration in the Philippines.
“Let the new administration call the shots” on the possibility of expanding the JEC to a full-fledged FTA between Taiwan and the Philippines, he said.
Lapus’ comments contrasted with earlier remarks, in which he voiced the possibility of exploring an FTA with Taiwan as relations between Taiwan and China improved.
“This might be the time to start talking. I see the benefits of this bilateral [FTA] because of [the] thousands of investors from Taiwan. This would even improve with an FTA,” Lapus had said in an earlier interview, also quoted by the Manila Bulletin.
Asked for comment on Lapus’ remarks, Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) told the Taipei Times on Friday that despite other regional economies’ stance of supporting a “one China” policy, an ECFA would nonetheless increase their willingness to sign FTAs with Taiwan.
“The political issues have to be resolved before other economies are willing to sign an FTA with us,” he said by telephone.
“The signing of an ECFA will be a ‘win-win’ for cross-strait relations in terms of economic ties, and through this, other countries have told us they would pay close attention to how the trade pact develops and explore the possibility of signing FTAs with Taiwan,” he said.
As a WTO member, Taiwan is free to sign FTAs with other economies as stipulated in the WTO clause, Huang said.
Taiwan has reportedly held several talks with Philippine authorities on the possibility of signing an FTA because the Subic-Clark-Kaoshiung Economic Corridor, established four years ago under former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) administration, was no longer sufficient to realize the full benefits of an FTA, the paper said.
“This economic corridor involves only a small area, while an FTA would cover both countries in their entirety, so this will expand relations of the two countries,” Taiwanese Representative Donald Lee (李傳通) said to Manila.
“Taiwan and the Philippines have agreed to discuss how the proposed FTA could be signed,” Lee said, adding that an FTA would cover both investments and trade.
He said he hoped that the discussions would be continued under the new Philippine government.
Lee said that once an ECFA is signed, more Taiwanese investors are expected to relocate to China, which could lead to the displacement of some of the estimated 80,000 Filipino workers in Taiwan.
Aside from the displaced workers, the Philippines could also lose potential investors because it would be easier for those investors to enter a country that has an existing agreement with Taiwan, Lee said to the Philippine Star earlier this month.
Last month, Subic Bay Development Management Corp president Jeff Lin (林繼武) said that there were no indications that Taiwanese firms in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone were preparing to relocate to China once the trade agreement has been signed.
Lin was responding to a report by Philippines National Economic and Development Authority director-general Augusto Santos.
The report claimed that some of the 135 Taiwanese companies in the zone would move to China after the trade pact is signed, leaving thousands of Filipinos out of work.
Lin said that some of the Taiwanese firms already established in the zone were mulling over expansion plans.
He said the zone had become more attractive to Taiwanese investors because of the positive effects of the FTA between China and ASEAN, which came into force at the beginning of this year.
The incoming Philippine president Benigno Aquino III will be inaugurated on June 30.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JASON TAN
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS