Taiwan Brain Trust yesterday said it would not oppose the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) as long as Beijing did not prevent Taiwan from signing free-trade agreements (FTA) with other major trading partners. However, it criticized the government’s economic policy — and its reliance on China — as flawed and misguided.
The trust’s chairman, former vice premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), said China represented about 70 percent of the nation’s total overseas investment, while 42 percent of Taiwan’s exports went to China and Hong Kong, making Taiwan economically vulnerable via-a-vis China.
“We must rethink our global economic strategy. In particular, we must strengthen the cooperative relationship with advanced countries,” he told a conference on ways to address Taiwan’s economic development dilemma.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu said the administration’s had three myths about economic policy: it thought China was the only option for repairing Taiwan’s economy; it thought economic growth was everything and failed to realize that economic growth did not necessarily improve the quality of life or narrow the wealth gap; and it thought big businesses deserved preferential tax cuts, while ignoring the economically disadvantaged, small and medium-sized businesses and residents of central and southern Taiwan, where resources were inadequate compared with what is allocated to the north.
Wu said the administration should increase its cooperation with developed countries, emphasize creating jobs rather than economic growth, improve the investment environment, restructure finances and reform the tax system, allocate national resources more reasonably and commit to sustainable development.
“The purpose of a government’s existence is to let its people live a good life,” he said. “Being happy is not only about making more money or [achieving] higher economic growth. It is also about guaranteeing their jobs, quality of life, physical and mental health, confidence and dignity, social harmony and national security.”
Chen Jinji (陳錦稷), a research fellow at the trust, said the administration’s economic policy was seriously mistaken because of the three myths mentioned by Wu.
“The government’s economic policy not only fails to solve problems, it makes things worse,” he said. “When a government gets the problem wrong and prescribes the wrong medicine, the result is a government that is ineffectual.”
Tsaur Tien-wang (曹添旺), convener of the trust’s economics department, said he was concerned about the ECFA’s negative impact, saying that when a smaller economy integrates with a bigger one, it is easier for the smaller one to become marginalized in terms of employment, investment and income.
The only way out is for the smaller economy to develop economic ties with other countries and sign FTAs, he said.
This applies to Taiwan, he said, -adding that Taiwan’s future would be -limited if China continues to block its efforts to sign FTAs with Taiwan’s major economic partners.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS