Fri, Jul 11, 2008 page3

• Chiang pushes common market policy

  TALKING TRADE The Straits Exchange Foundation chairman said a pact with China could help in free-trade agreement negotiations with other neighboring countries

  • STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
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  A cross-strait common market arrangement could help Taiwan negotiate free-trade agreements (FTA) with ASEAN nations, Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) said yesterday.

  “If both sides of the Taiwan Strait could reach an FTA or another form of trade agreement, Taiwan would be in a better position to negotiate trade pacts with neighboring countries,” Chiang said.

  Taiwan has tried in recent years to establish FTAs with major economies, such the US, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and other ASEAN nations, but to no avail, because of the political obstacles and political and business leaders are concerned that the nation’s exclusion from FTAs and regional economic and trade mechanisms could leave Taiwan marginalized in the international community.

  Presenting his analysis on regional trade strategies at a seminar hosted by the Bureau of Trade, Chiang said that as the nation explores the possibility of an FTA with China, ASEAN and other major economies around the world, one of its priorities should be to pay attention to politically sensitive issues.

  “For instance, it would be more pragmatic to use the term ‘common market’ rather than ‘agreement’ when negotiating with China,” Chiang said.

  Under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) cross-strait policy, the “common market” could be achieved by first promoting the liberalization of cross-strait trade, then developing an economic coordination system and finally implementing total economic integration, he said.

  Chiang said the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Beijing and Hong Kong was a model that Taiwan could use as a starting point at the negotiating table with China.

  The CEPA was signed on June 2003 by the Beijing government and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to tighten trade cooperation and included measures such as the elimination of tariffs on some items that Hong Kong exports to China.

  Chiang said Taiwan could follow Hong Kong’s lead and sign a similar agreement with China to better promote and protect Taiwanese businesses in China.

  However, in a bid to alleviate fears that the nation’s status would be denigrated during the negotiations, Ma has proposed that instead of the word “partnership” in any agreement, Taiwan should aim for a “Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement” with China.

  In his address, Chiang attributed China’s economic achievements partly to the efforts of Taiwanese industry, saying local manufacturers based in China had helped China transform into a powerful economy.

  “China’s annual gross domestic product [GDP] has climbed at an average 10.5 percent over the last 15 years,” Chiang said, adding that China was now a major influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

  China has become the world’s third-largest exporter and the fourth-largest economy, with exports at US$1.3 trillion and a GDP of US$3 trillion last year.
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