President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that while he was aware that China had a political agenda behind the recently signed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Taiwan’s sovereignty would not be harmed by the trade deal with China.
The president said he recognized China’s ultimate intention was to take over Taiwan, but said there was no “political language or demands” in the ECFA document.
Prior to the signing, Ma said issues such as the potential political impact the agreement would have on Taiwan or how it would affect cross-strait developments were all being carefully considered.
PHOTO: CNA
“There were concerns about the possible harm mainland China would cause us via the ECFA, but our assessments led us to believe it was a deal that we could go ahead with,” Ma told a press conference at the Presidential Office yesterday.
“Moreover, members of the international community view the ECFA as a giant step toward cross-strait harmony,” he said.
Speaking with a roomful of local and foreign reporters two days after the ECFA was signed in China, Ma said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait had reached a consensus to seek economic cooperation before negotiating on political issues.
Asked to comment on China’s failure to remove the estimated 1,500 missiles it still has aimed at Taiwan, Ma, who had previously vowed not to enter into negotiation with China unless the missiles were removed, said it was a thorny issue for the two sides, adding that the timing was not ripe to handle political issues.
“Both sides agreed that we should put aside political issues for now and solve economic problems first,” Ma said.
Ma dismissed the opposition camp’s labeling of the ECFA as a preliminary step toward unification and said his administration would adopt “practical” policies by making economic issues a priority in the present stage before turning to political issues.
Ma said that more economic problems remained to be discussed and negotiated upon and that the ECFA, as other cross-strait policies promoted by his administration, would give the people on either side of the Taiwan Strait a chance to better understand each other.
At a separate setting yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party spokesperson Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said Ma’s comments made it clear “to everyone but the president” that China’s political ambition is to erase Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“Everybody knows that the negotiations were heavily political and included [China’s] motives for unification, but Ma pretends he can’t see them and buries his head in the sand like an ostrich,” Tsai said.
Tsai said the DPP believed that Beijing’s political ambitions for Taiwan were what initially sparked negotiations for the ECFA, adding that “this became more readily apparent during the negotiations.”
“The ECFA was part of China’s political strategy right from the start … The only person that still can’t see this is the president,” he said.
Additional reporting by Vincent Y. Chao
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS