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Presidential election 2008: 7 days to go: Hsieh and Ma spar over common market

A "cross-strait common market" remained the topic for heated debate between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidates in a campaign platform presentation televised last night.

ACCUSATIONS

Rebutting accusations from the DPP that the "cross-strait common market" envisioned by KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) would "sell out" Taiwan to China, KMT presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said last night that, if elected, he would not allow poor-quality wares and agricultural products from China into the domestic market, nor would he open the labor market to Chinese workers.

"I assure you that I will not lift the ban on Chinese workers during my term. That is my promise to you all," Ma said.

Responding to Ma's remarks, DPP candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said that once the door has been opened to China, the influx of Chinese workers to Taiwan would become unstoppable.

Chinese workers would occupy job vacancies that are supposed to belong to Taiwanese, Hsieh said.

SOVEREIGNTY

To implement a "one China market" would turn Taiwan into a second Hong Kong and cost Taiwan its sovereignty, he said.

Returning to his previous allegation against Ma, Hsieh said that Ma's US green card remained valid.

When Hsieh first raised the green card issue in January, Ma initially responded that he did not have a green card, but later conceded that he did have one in 1977, which he used to get student loans and employment after graduation.

It was automatically invalidated in 1985 when he applied for a visa to travel to the US, Ma said at the time.

Hsieh insisted that Ma still holds a valid US green card because he never completed an I-407 form to relinquish his permanent residency in the US, nor has a US immigration court invalidated his card.

EVIDENCE

"If you can provide official evidence to prove that [your US] permanent residency card was invalidated 20 years ago, I will apologize, or even withdraw from the election," Hsieh said last night.
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