Fri, Jan 30, 2015 page1

• Cross-strait meeting focuses on SMEs

  CHINA THREAT: Dozens of protesters mobilized by the TSU tried to enter the venue to stop the meeting, but were outnumbered by police and dragged away

  • By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporters
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  Trade negotiators from Taiwan and China yesterday decided to form a new working group to involve small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the process of cross-strait economic integration, as they agreed to conclude negotiations on an agreement on trade in goods as soon as possible.

  The working group would be the seventh subordinate body of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee aiming to ensure implementation of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), with the original six groups being in place since the inception of the committee in 2011.

  Officials from both sides also decided to arrange details for holding a new round of negotiations over an agreement on trade in goods — a follow-up pact under the ECFA — after the Lunar New Year holiday later next month.

  

  A member of the Taiwan Solidarity Union is restrained by security guards while protesting outside a meeting of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee yesterday, at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

  Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

  The conclusions were reached at the semi-annual meeting of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee held yesterday at Taipei’s Grand Hotel.

  It was the second such meeting since the student-led Sunflower movement in March and April last year forced the government to agree to put the review of a proposed cross-strait service trade agreement on hold until a mechanism to monitor cross-strait negotiations and agreements is in place.

  The talks focused on small and medium-sized enterprises in hopes to ease suspicions among the Taiwanese public about Beijing’s intentions.

  Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Chao (卓士昭) told a post-meeting press conference last night that the discussions were “fruitful.”

  Both sides reached an agreement on the main aspects of a mechanism for settling disputes under the ECFA and on expanding industry cooperation to include e-commerce, in addition to LED lighting, wireless cities, logistics, displays, automobiles, textiles and pharmaceuticals, Chao said.

  At a separate press conference, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan (高燕) said that both sides highlighted six aspects of work at the meeting, including recognizing the potential impact of cross-strait agreements and the need to carry on negotiations at a steady pace.

  Meanwhile, dozens of protesters mobilized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) clashed with police as they attempted to enter the venue to interrupt the meeting.

  “Taiwanese are against the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] China-leaning policies,” TSU Youth Corps member Tsai Yi-chen (蔡宜蓁) said. “Of course, Taiwan should interact with other countries, but it is obvious that China wants to take over Taiwan, and now the government is only focused on interacting with China.”

  Tsai said that despite the appearance of goodwill from China, it has never given up its intention to seize Taiwan.

  China’s recent announcement of a new flight route — the M503, which runs nearly parallel to the median line of the Taiwan Strait — poses a threat to Taiwan’s national security, she said.

  TSU Department of Organization deputy director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) said that Beijing must drop the planned route before cross-strait talks can proceed.

  “Drawing a flight route so close to the line is an act of provocation. It is unacceptable to all Taiwanese,” Chang said. “I would like to warn the government not to talk or to sign any agreement with China before it drops the air route.”

  “Otherwise, Taiwanese will make you pay a heavy price,” he added.

  The outnumbered protesters were soon subdued by police officers, taken to a room and then forced to leave the hotel.

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