Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) yesterday dismissed criticism of Taiwan’s economic relations with China as unfounded, saying that Taiwanese investment in China meant China needs Taiwan and that Taiwan should be worried if China no longer needed it.
“Reliance is not a bad thing, but over-reliance is a problem,” he said. “We’d have to worry if China said it didn’t need us anymore.”
Reliance on other countries isn’t permanent and Taiwan must strengthen its economic power and minimize the impact of over-reliance on China, he said.
Chiang made the remarks after a workshop on international trade for university students organized by the China Youth Corps.
Chiang said Taiwan used to rely on the US economically. At the peak of Taiwan-US trade, the US accounted for about 50 percent of the country’s total exports. It now accounts for 12 percent, he said.
China, which accounts for 40 percent of Taiwan’s total exports, has replaced the US as the country’s first overseas market, Chiang said. Chiang said that ASEAN’s beginning to offer zero tariffs on Chinese products next year would put Taiwan in an unfavorable position.
Seeking similar treatment, the administration has mulled the possibility of signing a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement with China, he said.
Another way to minimize the risk of over-reliance on China was to allow more Chinese investments to enter the local market, he said, because it would make China depend more on Taiwan.
“In international trade, whoever has the competitive edge has the advantage,” he said. “What really matters is whether we can augment our technical abilities and remain competitive.”
Chiang said cross-strait negotiations would proceed gradually, starting with the easier and more urgent issues and moving toward more difficult and less pressing ones. Economic matters have priority over political ones, he said.
Political issues would mainly focus on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) election platform, he said. They would include establishing a military confidence-building mechanism, signing a peace agreement and expanding the country’s international space.
The SEF would not begin negotiations on those issues until government agencies have completed comprehensive studies and analysis on the issues and the Mainland Affairs Council authorized the foundation to negotiate, he said.
Rather than sending its own negotiators, Chiang said the foundation’s role was to “build a platform” where government officials can talk.
“Even if there were political issues involved in the bilateral negotiations scheduled for this year, they are not what the foundation can discuss at the table,” he said.
Asked about China’s human rights records, Chiang said the foundation was concerned about human rights violations in China, but that it was not a priority at the moment.
Amid concerns that many Taiwanese products are made in China, Chiang said brand and the quality of products were more important than where they are made.
On accusations that the government has borrowed money to revive the economy, Chiang said many countries placed more importance on resuscitating the economy than balancing their budgets.
The global economic downturn could be an opportunity for businesses, he said, because of falling prices. The Chinese market holds many opportunities, but also many traps. But the investment situation in China is no worse than in Southeast Asian countries because both sides speak the same language and an authoritarian regime is more efficient, he said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked