The creation of a "cross-strait common market" between Taiwan and China would negatively impact blue-collar and agricultural workers, while business owners would reap most of the benefit, pro-localization economists and labor leaders said yesterday at a forum.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was under fire at the forum, organized by the Taiwan Labor Front and Taiwan Agricultural Academia Alliance.
"The policy to create a `common market' between Taiwan and China is right there in the KMT's manifesto," said Kenneth Lin (林向愷) a professor of economics at National Taiwan University.
The policy, which can be found on the KMT Web site, lists "the promotion of trade normalization and the structuring of a cross-strait common market" as a goal, along with "establishing direct flights within a year and enlarging cultural, economic, agricultural and financial links."
"China is an important trading partner, but conditions in the two countries are too different for us to belong to a common market," Lin said.
Disparate worker safety standards, environmental standards and consumer safety in the two nations are big sticking points, Lin said.
The impact on Taiwanese farmers would be severe, said Wu Ming-ming (吳明敏), chair of the Taiwan Agricultural Academia Alliance.
"Although in theory we can sell them our agricultural products and they can sell us theirs, in reality we are seeing cheap Chinese agricultural products flooding the market," Wu said.
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The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
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