Chen Po-chih (陳博志), the architect of former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) "no haste, be patient" policy, said yesterday that he supports the implementation of direct links across the Strait under certain conditions.
"Externally, China has to remove all unfavorable trade barriers against Taiwan," Chen, who is now chairman of the pro-DPP Taiwan Thinktank, told reporters yesterday after addressing a seminar held by the think tank.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen said that once direct links between Taiwan and China are in place, the channel for Beijing to dump its low-priced products will be wide open.
Upholding the principle of free trade under the WTO framework, Chen said that bilateral trade negotiations between the two nations should be initiated soon to ensure that Taiwan has the right to launch anti-dumping investigations should disputes arise.
As another example of unfair treatment, Chen said that China levies a 16 percent tariff on Taiwanese imports, while Taiwan collects no such taxes on Chinese imports. He said the practice means Taiwanese exports across the Strait would still face unfair competition, even if direct links are implemented and drive transportation costs down.
Chen defended the "no haste, be patient" policy, which he said had been misunderstood as a scheme to curb China-bound investments during Lee's rule.
"The policy originally aimed to take advantage of cross-strait trade as a springboard for Taiwan to break into world markets and facilitate global commercial links," Chen said.
Under the scheme, the nation's top industries would be allowed to go west if the Chinese market helped them increase their global competitiveness, Chen said.
However, Chen Po-chih, who has also helped develop many of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) economic policies, brushed off the question of whether Tai-wan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (台積電) and other chipmakers' 8-inch chip foundries should get a green light to go to China.
Addressing the seminar, President Chen reiterated that the nation's economy should move from being labor-intensive to knowledge-based.
He said that the former KMT government's policies of bringing in cheap labor from neighboring countries had contributed to unemployment while putting restrictions on foreign high-tech talent capable of advancing the nation's knowledge-based industries.
"While encouraging colleges to become more international, [the DPP government] will also ease restrictions on foreign talent, bringing in top-tier professionals from other countries," Chen said in his opening remarks yesterday morning.
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