President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) recently signed with Beijing was not an international agreement because the relations between Taiwan and China are not those of two countries.
“We do not recognize China as a state, so our relationship with each other is not one of country-to-country,” he said.
“Cross-strait agreements are not international treaties signed between two countries, but they are very similar,” Ma added.
PHOTO: CNA
Ma made the remarks while meeting Japanese academics specializing in cross-strait affairs from the University of Tokyo at the Presidential Office yesterday.
Ma said his administration signed the trade deal based on the needs of the nation, public support and following legislative oversight.
On the legislative oversight, Ma said Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) would report to the legislature, which would review the agreement clause by clause.
The accord must be voted on in its entirety and the legislature could attach a rider to the agreement if necessary, he added.
Once the agreement clears the legislature, Ma said it would come into effect within six months, during which the two sides will begin negotiations on trade in goods and services, investment protection and dispute settlement.
Ma said he expected future cross-strait negotiations to be more challenging and that his administration would be under more pressure.
“This is just the beginning,” he said.
Facing Beijing’s increasing pressure for military and political negotiations, Ma said he would not negotiate unification with China during his presidency. Nor would he pursue de jure independence or favor settling cross-strait disputes through military means.
Ma said he understood the ECFA was no panacea and that there were risks involved, but the government could minimize the risks and maximize opportunities.
Amid opposition concerns that the administration has compromised Taiwan’s sovereignty during cross-strait negotiations, Ma said Taipei and Beijing have signed 14 agreements and none of them indicated his administration made any political trade-offs or promises.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
RSS