National Taiwan University economics department chairwoman Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲) yesterday called on the government to renegotiate the cross-strait service trade agreement because of what she called its unequal terms and violation of 2001 Nobel Economics Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz’s definition of free-trade agreements.
Taiwan and China inked the cross-strait service trade agreement in Shanghai in late June. If ratified by the Legislative Yuan, it will open up 55 non-financial services sub-sectors to Chinese investment, including printing, tourism, restaurants, packaging, delivery service, car rentals and the hair and beauty industry.
Jang said the agreement was completely against democratic principles, saying that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration kept the nation in the dark by not holding public hearings about the agreement prior its signing, and also kept the legislature from being involved until after the signing.
“We are a democratic society governed by law; can the [Taiwanese] accept an agreement based on backroom deals?” Jang asked, adding that “the people are not against the Ma administration for dealing with China, but they are adamantly opposed to the Ma administration’s signing of an agreement with China that is riddled with serious flaws.”
Jang said that the agreement fulfilled none of Stiglitz’s definition of “basic principles” in free trade in an article published by Britain’s Guardian newspaper in July, explaining that “any trade agreement has to be symmetrical ... no trade agreement should put commercial interests ahead of broader national interests ... there must be a commitment to transparency.”
Opening up the beauty and hair sectors to China would harm local industries that are already at a disadvantage, Jang said, adding that allowing Chinese investment in printing and telecommunications posed risks to national security, as they were central to freedom of speech and privacy of communication.
The agreement would only benefit larger corporations and would have a destructive impact on the medium, small, and even micro, businesses that form 99 percent of Taiwan’s tertiary sector, she added.
When faced with Chinese companies — whose modus operandi is the monopolization of the entire market from production, manufacture, to distribution — as well as other domestic competitors backed by state-owned corporations, these industries would have no choice but to fall like dominos, Jang said, adding that the domino effect would directly affect more than 4 million Taiwanese workers.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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