The four agreements signed by Taipei and Beijing on Tuesday would only bring limited economic benefits to the country, while the political cost would be very high, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.
Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) signed four agreements on Tuesday, covering the expansion of air links, the launch of direct cross-strait shipping and postal services and the establishment of a reporting mechanism for food safety issues.
HIGH PRICE
While saying that cross-strait talks are generally a positive development and that the four agreements may bring some economic benefits, Tsai said yesterday that Taiwan has paid too high a price for them.
“We too want to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and we believe proper dialogue between the two sides would help maintain such stability,” Tsai said in English at an international press conference at the party’s headquarters.
“But such dialogue should not be pre-conditioned by the ‘one-China’ principle or the ‘1992 consensus’ — this is too much of a political price for Taiwan to pay, as this is an issue that touches upon the sovereignty of Taiwan,” she said.
Tsai added that the four agreements could only bring very limited economic benefits to the country and that Taiwan should not neglect its economic ties with countries other than China.
She said that Taiwan’s efforts to establish free-trade agreements (FTA) “have been blocked by China.”
“Without such FTAs, moving closer to China economically will make Taiwan too dependent on the Chinese economy and, as a result, eliminate our options for the future,” she said.
Tsai called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to show his determination to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty by insisting he be addressed as “president” by Chen when they meet today.
“If he cannot even defend his title, what can he defend for us?” she asked.
AMENDMENTS
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus deputy secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) promised full cooperation in pushing amendments to pieces of legislation related to the four cross-strait agreements signed on Tuesday.
KMT caucus secretary-general Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) said the KMT caucus would help put proposed amendments to the regulations about direct air and shipping links on the plenary agenda after the legislature votes on the president’s nominees for president of the Examination Yuan, vice president of the Control Yuan and members of the two government branches next week.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
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