Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) yesterday engaged in a heated debate with members of the public who criticized the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing.
Addressing members of the Taipei West chapter of the Rotary Club, Lai said Taiwan would suffer economic “discrimination” if it did not sign an ECFA with Beijing.
Without an ECFA, Lai said, Taiwanese products exported to China would be taxed between 6 percent and 11 percent more than those from ASEAN countries.
She said the government would map out measures to safeguard the interests of local businesses.
There are also stratagems in place under the WTO framework, she said, adding that it was up to the government to implement them.
A club member, Alan Lin (林瓊瀛), questioned the government’s movement toward signing an ECFA, saying it seemed the government had made up its mind before even carrying out an assessment of the potential impact.
“It is like telling us unification with Beijing is the only choice and then we can talk about details later,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
In response, Lai said the council would continue to communicate with the public, the legislature and Beijing, adding that she understood there was much room for improvement in that regard.
Another club member, Vincent Huang (黃政枝), said that while Lai mentioned peace and prosperity in her speech, she should tell Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) about their importance.
In response, Lai said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shuan (劉兆玄) had repeatedly addressed the issue of China’s military threat and demanded that Beijing remove its missiles targeted at Taiwan before both sides could negotiate a peace deal.
China must also understand that Taiwanese wanted to have a friendly neighbor and that military hostility would only hurt the feelings of Taiwanese, she said.
Huang also asked Lai to prove that opening the economy further to China would be beneficial.
Lai said Taiwan became a tiger economy in the 1980s and 1990s, but the world had since changed. As China is rising to become an economic powerhouse, Taiwan must realize this and adjust its policies.
Visibly unsatisfied with Lai’s answer, Huang asked Lai to explain how sovereignty was not sacrificed in cross-strait talks.
Lai said the two sides had entered a new stage of “mutual non-denial” and that this was equivalent to being “mutually not subordinate” to each other.
Lai said cross-strait talks were now attended by government officials, which proved the government’s existence.
The debate was cut short by the host because of time constraints.
A club member complained that Lai should not have been invited to the event because she was a politician. Another member said that since Lai worked for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, her only job was to promote KMT policies.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS