The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said that it couldn’t confirm whether the cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) would be signed or discussed during the next round of cross-strait trade talks.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday also indirectly rejected market speculation that the government would allow several Chinese banks to enter the local market before signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China on financial supervision and market access.
REPORT
The remarks from the two government agencies came on the heels of a local newspaper report that said the ECFA would be included as a discussion topic during an upcoming meeting between Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), in Taichung in mid-December.
The Chinese-language Commercial Times also said that the two sides might ink the financial MOU by the end of this month, adding that this development came shortly after Taiwan barred a visit by Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. AFP reported that the signing was a “reward” for barring the visit, however the original text of the Commercial Times article only noted the close timing of the two events.
The MOEA yesterday said the agenda for the Chiang-Chen meeting would be handled by the Mainland Affairs Council and not the MOEA.
“We have been carrying out non-official communication on the ECFA issue and hope that it will take place at the earliest possible timeframe,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said.
The newspaper cited Chinese officials as saying that China had agreed to sign the financial pact with Taiwan later this month. FSC chairman Sean Chen (陳冲) said his commission had already reached a consensus with its counterparts including the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on market supervision, information exchange and confidentiality, as well as financial cooperation — general concepts that are enshrined in most MOUs.
BANK ENTRY
The newspaper also said the Bank of China, one of China’s big four state-owned commercial lenders, would set up a representative office in Taiwan before the MOU was signed.
“Theoretically, their [Chinese banks’] entry will be made possible only if a financial pact or an information exchange mechanism [between both countries’ financial regulators] is in place,” Chen said.
No Chinese banks have filed applications to enter the local market, Chen said.
Any Chinese bank wishing to set up a presence in Taiwan needs to first seek regulatory approval from its home authorities before the commission here can grant its approval. The commission would verify the home regulator’s approval via the supervision or financial information exchange mechanism to be agreed between Taiwan and China, the chairman said.
Chen said that he was unable to provide details on when, where and who would sign the financial MOU since such matters were political and would be decided by cross-strait policymakers.
The MAC, however, said it could neither confirm nor deny the report.
“Our stance is to sign the memorandum of understanding as soon as possible,” said an official with the council, who asked not to be named.
“The government bowed to China’s pressure for partisan and economic benefits, and this shows that the government is weak and incompetent,” said Gary Chiang (江季剛), secretary-general of the pro-independence Guts United Taiwan, which invited Kadeer to visit.
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
RSS