There are many options to choose from to help boost Taiwan’s ailing economy, but an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the administration seeks to sign with Beijing is the worst of them all, an economist said yesterday.
Taiwan Thinktank chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) said Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) asked government agencies to carefully study the possibility of raising the housing tax by a small amount, but was determined to push through an economic pact destined to change the course of the country’s development for decades with minimum discretion.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs says that the proposed agreement will boost GDP by nearly 1.7 percent and create more than 250,000 jobs. Chen, however, questioned the accuracy of the numbers, saying the methodology and models of the study were problematic.
Describing the trade pact as “sugar-coated poison,” Chen said that an ECFA would increase Taiwan’s economic reliance on China. He urged the public, including unification supporters, to oppose the planned pact, which he said would weaken the force propelling China to democratize.
The administration must reach out to the public and the opposition to seek consensus on this controversial issue, he said, preferably by holding a referendum.
He also called on the administration to seek trade agreements with other countries or refuse to let an ECFA take effect unless the trade pacts with other countries are signed.
Chen said he was not a troublemaker, but he wanted the administration to admit to its mistake. If he turned out to be wrong, Chen said, he would like to know why and how. If the administration is wrong, it needed to admit it, he said.
He made the remarks when promoting his new book, ECFA — The Unspeakable Secret, in Taipei yesterday morning.
Chen said the government had overestimated the benefits of an ECFA and underestimated its drawbacks. An ECFA is an interim trade pact for a free-trade agreement according to WTO rules, Chen said. After the proposed pact is signed, Chen said, more than 90 percent of Taiwan’s exports to China would enjoy zero tariffs and vice versa.
“The administration does not dare tell us of the negative impacts on local businesses and is turning a deaf ear on their doubts,” he said. “They are unwilling to clearly explain what it is because it is a secret they cannot afford to tell.”
Likening the signing of an ECFA with China to fishing, Chen said China’s blocking of other countries signing trade deals with Taiwan was like a fisherman driving fish from all sides so they had only one place to go.
Chen said there were many alternatives available, but the way the administration is demonstrating its interest in signing an ECFA with China by a certain time is like a man at a store declaring that he needs to buy a TV by 11am, leaving himself little room to negotiate. What was worse, Chen said, the man did not have a back-up plan.
“One of the back-up plans is not to buy it,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCENT Y. CHAO
Also See: Panel, financial services not included in ECFA talks
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS