Taiwan and China yesterday wrapped up the fifth round of cross-strait negotiations by signing the landmark, yet controversial, Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). Both sides also signed a copyright protection deal and resolved to pursue an investment protection pact by the end of the year.
Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang-Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), signed and exchanged the documents in a ceremony held at a hotel in Chongqing.
The government has said it will send the pact to the legislature for approval before it is implemented. According to the document signed yesterday, each side is to issue a written notice to the other following the completion of the procedures.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“The deal will take effect the day after both sides receive confirmation,” the agreement says.
During a meeting between the SEF and ARATS yesterday morning prior to the signing of the ECFA at 2:30pm, negotiators did not revise the “early harvest” lists they agreed on during a preparatory meeting in Taipei on Thursday last week.
Once the ECFA takes effect, the early harvest lists will allow the 539 items on Taiwan’s list, about US$13.8 billion in exports per year, to receive zero tariff treatment within the next two years, while Chinese exporters will get a reciprocal deal on 267 items, US$2.9 billion in exports per year.
Both sides agreed to establish a cross-strait economic cooperation commission, which will be responsible for follow-up negotiations and supervision of the agreement.
The ECFA also includes a clause authorizing either party to inform the other party should the need to suspend the agreement arise, but it does not stipulate on what grounds a suspension may be proposed.
During the morning meeting, trade officials from both sides agreed that until a cross-strait trade dispute resolution agreement is forged, the two sides would attempt to solve any disputes through negotiation and would not refer controversial cases to the WTO for arbitration.
However, the Taiwanese negotiators, including Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (梁國新), told their Chinese counterparts that Taiwan would seek talks on including stipulations in the cross-strait trade dispute resolution agreement that would entitle the government and Taiwanese individuals to the right to refer disputes to the WTO for arbitration.
Later yesterday at a press conference held by the SEF, Chiang said Taiwan, as a member of the WTO, had the right to negotiate free-trade agreements (FTA) with other nations at any time.
“We also encountered many problems when seeking to join the WTO. We held bilateral talks with about 30 countries. We solved those problems in the end and we will have the wisdom to resolve any difficulties [again],” Chiang said.
However, Chinese negotiators were rather more cautious.
“We understand our Taiwanese compatriots’ wish to participate in international events,” ARATS Vice Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) said at a separate press conference.
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Zengwei (姜增偉) cut in and said: “We can make reasonable arrangements through cross-strait negotiations under the precondition of the ‘1992 consensus.’”
Zheng called on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to refrain from “manipulating the signing of the ECFA.”
“The ECFA is an economic issue. No individual or group should manipulate it for political gain,” he said.
The copyright protection agreement stated that both sides agreed to establish a mechanism to reinforce anti-piracy laws and deal with cases of copyright violation.
Chiang said both sides also agreed to pursue a cross-strait medical cooperation pact and an agreement to protect cross-strait investment during the sixth round of cross-strait talks to be held in Taiwan before the end of the year.
The specific location of the talks has not yet been decided.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
SURPRISE GUEST: Media reports identified the visitor as Admiral Michael Studeman, director of the J2, which oversees intelligence at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command A two-star US Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Sunday. The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. They were speaking on condition of anonymity. After initially saying on Sunday night that it had no comment about the report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it welcomed the visit of an “unidentified US official,” but declined to give more details because the trip “has not been made public.” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday
AUTUMN STRUGGLE: The KMT and TPP set up stages on the rally’s sidelines, while Want Want boss Tsai Eng-meng said the DPP was curtailing freedom of speech Tens of thousands of people in Taipei yesterday took part in the “Autumn Struggle” (秋鬥) — an annual protest march by labor groups — but with this year’s focus on rejecting the government’s plan to allow imports of US pork containing ractopamine residue. “Against poisonous pork, against double standards, against a party-state,” the protesters, mostly wearing black, chanted in front of the rally’s main stage on Ketagalan Boulevard at about noon, before a parade set off at 2pm. Autumn Struggle spokesperson Lee Chien-cheng (李建誠) said this year’s march was divided into three teams, with the first team urging food safety and labor
DEFENSE: The construction of indigenous submarines will be a testament to the nation’s commitment to safeguard its sovereignty, President Tsai Ing-wen said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the nation’s first indigenous submarine at state-run shipbuilder CSBC Corp’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. “This submarine is an important part of allowing our navy to develop asymmetric warfare and to intimidate and block enemy ships from surrounding Taiwan’s main island,” Tsai said. “With the construction of the submarine to its future commission, we will certainly let the world know our persistence in safeguarding our sovereignty.” Tsai has made boosting the nation’s indigenous defense capacity a central pillar of her defense policy. She recently relaunched the
ESPIONAGE CHARGE: A TAO spokesperson said that the rights of Shih Cheng-ping were ‘fully safeguarded’ during the hearing, which handed him four years in prison China sentenced Shih Cheng-ping (施正屏), a former National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) professor, to four years in jail for espionage, officials said yesterday. The ruling came a month after Shih made a televised “confession” on state media. Shih, who is also a former chief economist for Chinese conglomerate Huaxia Group (華夏集團), was found guilty by a Chinese court on Tuesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) told a news briefing. Shih — who vanished after traveling to China in August 2018 — was among Taiwanese who China Central Television (CCTV) last month showed confessing to spying. CCTV often broadcasts suspects admitting to crimes, even
RSS