A trade unionist from Hong Kong said in Taipei yesterday that closer economic relations with China would not necessarily boost Taiwan’s economy.
The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions organizing secretary Vincent Sung (宋治德) said that the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between China and Hong Kong had not revitalized the local manufacturing industry or generated an increase in wages.
Sung said the CEPA only benefits multinational corporations and a minority of specialists, and that this was something Taiwan should consider before signing an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
Sung was invited to participate in a symposium organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the Taiwan Labor Front (TLF, 台灣勞工陣線) on the effects of an ECFA between Taiwan and China.
Sung said the Hong Kong government promoted the CEPA by saying that with zero customs fees, Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry would be able to attract local and foreign manufacturers to produce high quality products locally and thus increase employment.
However, Sung said that statistics showed that the export value for mechanical equipment, instruments and components and spare parts industries had dropped by 24.3 percent by December 2006 compared with December 2005, which was evidence that the CEPA had not managed to resuscitate the manufacturing industry.
Sung also said that Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry had been moving north into China since the 1980s and that the remaining manufacturing industry had contracted significantly.
He said most Hong Kong manufacturers did not create their own brands, that Hong Kong products had a low market share in China and that zero customs fees had not attracted manufacturers back to Hong Kong, which made it difficult to improve the situation.
Sung also said that since 2006, only 1,000 positions in China created by the CEPA had gone to people from Hong Kong, which was evidence that the agreement was not of much use for local residents.
With reference to the CEPA tourism plan, Sung said that spending by Chinese tourists in Hong Kong reached HK$9.3 billion (US$1.2 billion) in 2006, an increase of 38 percent over 2004. Although this increase had improved employment opportunities in the hotel and food and beverage industries, salaries in these industries dropped by 0.5 percent between December 2005 and December 2006.
Sung said that the CEPA had opened up the Chinese market to Hong Kong, which intensified competition between Hong Kong and Chinese companies.
To maintain their competitiveness, companies on the mainland increased their pressure on Hong Kong workers, which was evidence that the CEPA was only beneficial to big multinational companies and a minority of individuals, he said.
Sung said he also believed that since the ECFA being discussed in Taiwan still had no concrete content, it was useless to try to assess the effects of such an agreement. However, he felt that Hong Kong’s experience could be a good reference for Taiwan.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS