President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) joined his party’s effort to further split the pan-green camp yesterday as he praised Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) for defending him from the criticism that he is selling out Taiwan.
“A politician has recently said that I cannot sell out Taiwan. What he said is true,” Ma said, referring to remarks made by Yang, who last week withdrew from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and announced his bid to run as an independent in the year-end Greater Kaohsiung mayoral race.
In a recent interview with CTi TV, Yang said he did have doubts about Ma, who has been criticized for selling out Taiwan.
After working closely with Ma in the wake of Typhoon Morakot, which lashed central and southern Taiwan in August last year, Yang said he had totally changed his perceptions of Ma.
“If Ma really wanted to sell out Taiwan, he could not do it alone,” he said in the interview. “Taiwan is an independent sovereignty. No one can sell out the country because that would need the consent of the people.”
Yang also apologized for his “ideological thinking and remarks” he made when he was a DPP member.
“I know how to sell Taiwanese fruit and fish, but I am not capable of selling out Taiwan,” Ma said in Taichung County yesterday.
He visited a technology firm, which is supposed to benefit from the recently signed cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
Ma said he understood the ECFA was not a panacea, but it could help local businesses by removing competition barriers and improving Taiwan’s competitiveness.
“In the past, it was like our businesses were wearing iron shoes so they could not run fast,” he said.
“Now with the ECFA, they are wearing the lightest running shoes in the world so they can easily win the first prize,” he said.
Ma said the trade deal has motivated many companies to keep their roots in Taiwan or increase their investment here. The agreement has also attracted foreign investors, he said.
In addition to drawing investment, Ma said the ECFA would lower tariffs and encourage other countries to “open their doors,” which he added would help advance economic integration in Asia.
Ma has said that after the “early harvest” program comes into effect on Jan. 1, he expected to see the program boost Taiwan’s GDP by 0.4 percent, create more than NT$190 billion (US$5.9 billion) in output value and produce a net employment gain of 600,000.
The early harvest list refers to a list of goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions, which forms the backbone of the proposed deal.
China has agreed to gradually lower tariffs for 539 categories of imports, with an estimated value of US$13.8 billion a year. Beijing also agreed to open 11 service categories and 18 farming and fishery categories.
Although the 539 categories of traded goods accounted for only 16 percent of China-bound exports, the administration said they were still conducive to overall economic development.
Chinese exporters, on the other hand, will get a reciprocal deal on 267 items, with an estimated value of US$2.9 billion a year.
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