American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt met Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday, with their talks focusing on cross-strait trade deals and Taiwan’s relationship with the US.
AIT Director William Stanton accompanied Burghardt, who is on a four-day trip to Taiwan to brief officials on US-China developments following a state visit to Washington by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) last week.
CLOSED-DOOR MEETING
Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), head of the DPP’s international affairs department, said many topics were addressed during the 80 minute closed-door meeting, adding that the emphasis was on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed between Taiwan and China last June.
The Joint Statement issued after US President Obama met Hu last week lauded the ECFA.
Explaining its inclusion, Burghardt said that Washington viewed the ECFA as a means by which to reduce cross-strait tensions.
Economic agreement
However, Tsai disagreed with that interpretation, saying the agreement should primarily be construed as an economic agreement, Hsiao told reporters after the meeting.
“For Taiwan, what we care about is the impact of the ECFA on unemployment, income disparity and the [economy]. While these are matters the US isn’t focusing on, they are the realities Taiwan must face,” Hsiao said.
REAFFIRMATION
During the meeting, Tsai also told Burghardt she was happy to see Obama reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act during a joint press conference with Hu, in contrast with the failure to do so prior to the issuance of the Joint Statement in 2009 when Obama was in Beijing, Hsiao said.
That statement said: “The two sides agreed that respecting each other’s core interests is extremely important to ensure steady progress in US-China relations.”
However, US officials have denied that “core interests” referred to Taiwan.
“Compared with the previous Joint Statement, no words that caused harm to Taiwan appeared this time around,” Hsiao said, adding that the DPP was “very pleased.”
Tsai also expressed concerns over the close ties between President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration and Beijing, adding that the DPP hoped Taiwan would instead deepen ties with the US, Japan and other major democratic countries, Hsiao said.
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Turning to more domestic issues, Tsai briefed Stanton and Burghardt on the DPP’s preparations for the upcoming legislative and presidential elections after they inquired about Taiwan’s electoral developments, Hsiao said.
Burgardt, who was on his 10th visit to Taiwan as AIT chairman, is scheduled to leave Taiwan today.
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