Taiwan and China are unlikely to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) in the latter half of this year, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) said yesterday.
“It takes time and consensus,” she said. “A more practical estimation is next year, but I cannot say for sure whether it would be the first half of the year or the latter half.”
Lai made the remarks in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) at the legislature during a joint committee review of the three agreements signed with Beijing in April. Lin asked her when she expected Taipei to sign the ECFA with Beijing.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES
Lai said although the planned pact was not on the agenda of the cross-strait talks scheduled for the second half of the year, both sides could talk about the issue if they were ready.
The government agencies began preparations in February and should be ready for talks if Beijing felt the time was right, she said.
Asked about her opinion of China's proposed special financial zone on its east coast across from Taiwan, Lai said it remained to be seen whether the proposal would benefit Taiwanese interests.
“I have not seen a detailed plan. What we want to focus on right now is tackling more urgent issues,” she said.
Lai said the government would negotiate with Beijing only if it was ready and every negotiated item must correspond to national interests.
While proposing the government establish a special zone on the west coast to entice Chinese businesses across the Taiwan Strait to invest in public projects, KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) yesterday also expressed concern over the negative impact of an ECFA.
Lo said she was worried China's low costs and zero tariffs would put Taiwanese businesses at a disadvantage.
In related news, a poll released by Taiwan Public Opinion Studies Association yesterday showed that more than 58 percent of Taiwanese supported the government's proposed signing of an ECFA with China, but 48 percent said a referendum on the ECFA was necessary.
The survey, which polled 1,082 adults across the country on public satisfaction with cross-strait policies, showed that 48 percent of respondents were concerned that cross-strait rapprochement may have affected Taiwan's vigilance in regard to China, while more than 72 percent of respondents said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should build a cross-strait confidence-building measure (CBM) to prevent potential conflict.
Politicians and academics at the press conference yesterday challenged the government's handling of the ECFA issue and urged the administration to explain the content of the ECFA to the public.
“The fact that about 48 percent of people think an ECFA referendum is necessary shows that the public is still unsure what an ECFA can do for Taiwan,” Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said.
Former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) slammed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for failing to provide enough information about the ECFA and address public concerns on the issue.
“The government didn't want to communicate with the opposition parties, and it insisted on pushing for an ECFA without considering public opinion,” he said.
“It's arrogance,” he said.
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