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Government may try to limit market access to China

Government officials were tight-lipped yesterday on whether Taiwan would withhold market access to China after joining the WTO tomorrow.

According to a report yesterday, the government plans to "temporarily" leave its markets closed to China in the agriculture and services sectors after joining the world trade body.

The idea would be to force Beijing to the negotiating table on equal terms under the WTO framework, the report said.

Under WTO rules, China could initiate a complaint against Taiwan over the lack of access to Taiwan's market.

Should China make an issue of the lack of access to Taiwan's markets, it could use the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism to resolve the matter.

Taiwan would have 10 days to respond to any trade complaint.

But China would probably be reluctant to do so, as the international trade body views China and Taiwan as equals. China has characterized trade issues with Taiwan as a "domestic" matter.

Deng Chen-chung (鄧振中), vice chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said the nation's markets will eventually be opened up to China in accordance with the recommendations put forth by the Economic Development Advisory Conference.

"We hope China can take advantage of the WTO mechanism to negotiate trade issues with Taiwan," Deng said.

Chen Ming-tung (陳明通), another MAC vice chairman, said the opening of the nation's markets to China would take some time.

"It's too early to discuss how to communicate with China under the WTO framework, especially as both sides have just been approved to join the group," Chen said.

Still, government spokesman Su Tzen-ping (蘇正平) said withholding market access to China remained an option to get trade talks going under the WTO framework.

MAC Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has said that Taiwan and China should use the WTO framework to discuss trade issues such as the opening of direct links.
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