The planned cross-strait trade pact the government hopes to sign with China should be seen as a “quasi-international agreement” between two countries, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Hung-chih (林鴻池) said yesterday, therefore the legislature can only vote to accept or reject the whole agreement instead of reviewing it article by article.
The legislature does not have the power to revise the content of the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) unless it votes down the agreement, Lin said.
His remarks contradicted those of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on Saturday, when Wang said the legislature had the authority to decide how it wishes to review the ECFA and could amend its content.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday slammed the KMT caucus’ plan, saying the caucus was undermining Taiwan’s democracy by planning to carry out a pseudo-review.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) called for a substantial review of the ECFA’s content.
DPP Legislator Twu Shiing-jer (?? accused the KMT caucus of using the legislature to rubber-stamp the ECFA.
However, the KMT caucus’ proposal is only one option, Wang said yesterday, adding that legislators still needed to negotiate the review process.
The Act Governing Legislators’ Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法) stipulates that proposed legislation and budget requests must pass a third reading of the legislature, while other proposals only have to pass a second reading.
The act states that during a second reading, a proposal should be read and reviewed article by article.
Legislators can also deliberate over the opinions of the committee responsible for reviewing a proposal during the second reading, the act states.
The KMT caucus said on Tuesday that it would call a provisional legislative session in the middle of next month to review the ECFA, since the government plans to sign the agreement by early next month.
The legislature may also hold another session in August to complete the review in case the DPP caucus proposes to refer the agreement for cross-party negotiation, the KMT caucus said.
In accordance with legislative procedures, any bill or proposal referred for cross-party negotiation can be put on hold for up to one month.
At a separate setting yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) reiterated that Taiwan would benefit from the proposed accord.
“The mainland also believes it will be conducive to cross-strait relations, and the US fundamentally supports it as long as it can reduce cross-strait tension and enhance interactions, because it conforms to US interests,” he said.
“I don’t know exactly what it is about ECFA the opposition are against,” Ma said. “Do they oppose the signing of the trade pact, or do they think China is yielding too many benefits to us? I am not sure.”
“I promise during the process we will not undermine the sovereignty of the Republic of China or Taiwan’s integrity,” the president said. “We will uphold equality, dignity, reciprocity and mutual benefit so Taiwan will have a better chance and conditions for development.”
Meanwhile, Vice Economics Minister Francis Liang (梁國新) said yesterday that an ECFA would, if signed, enable Taiwan to “resume its status as a regional hub.”
He did not elaborate, however, on exactly when the nation served as a regional hub.
Speaking at a meeting of the Importers and Exporters Association of Taipei, Liang said Taiwan and China were close to signing the pact the government hopes will open a new era — one in which many products will enjoy preferential tariffs or greater market access.
“Many businesses, whether they are Taiwanese operating in China, American, European or Japanese, share the feeling that Taiwan will soon play a more major role on the world stage and will turn into a regional hub after the ECFA signing,” Liang said
Critics of the proposed pact, however, have complained that based on the WTO’s rules, 10 years after signing an ECFA, Taiwan would be forced to expand free trade with China to cover between 90 percent and 95 percent of trade in goods and services.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY YAN JUO-CHING, CNA AND STAFF WRITER
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