A reference to North Korea in a government-sponsored TV ad promoting a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) could give the impression that Taipei is spearheading an initiative targeting Pyongyang, a foreign ministry official said yesterday.
A 90-second TV spot recently released by the Mainland Affairs Council said signing an ECFA with China would allow Taiwanese businesses and people to compete with other counties on an equal footing.
“Taiwan does not want to become a second North Korea,” the ad said, which described North Korea as the only country in Asia to be excluded from regional economic integration agreements.
Despite the lack of direct interaction between Taiwan and North Korea, North Korea has been very friendly to Taiwan in comparison with Japan and the US, the foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Over the years, North Korea has a developed a favorable impression of Taiwan, the official said.
“North Korea has been under the impression that Taiwan is friendly towards it. If it ever heard of the TV spot … that would surely undermine that impression,” the official said.
Not only was it was impolite to say that Taiwan would end up isolated like North Korea if it refused to sign an ECFA, it could also leave a false impression that Taiwan is spearheading an anti-North Korea campaign, the official said.
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