Worried that people might find the topics of the upcoming cross-strait talks — most notably the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) — controversial and surprising, several civic groups yesterday urged the government to allow more transparency and legislative review before cross-strait agreements are implemented.
“Taiwan is a democracy, so the government is elected by the people,” Citizen Congress Watch (CCW) executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) told a news conference at the legislature yesterday.
“Hence it’s important to allow the public, or at least representatives of the people, to participate in the policy-making process and to ratify the agreements,” Ho said.
“The government is keeping the contents of the ECFA top secret, probably because it fears public resentment,” National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations chairwoman Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said.
“However, such resentment would be much fiercer if the public were not allowed to provide input beforehand, because an agreement [unilaterally drafted by the government] may end up having many defects,” Chen said.
A CCW survey of lawmakers’ attitudes about legislative monitoring of cross-strait agreements received replies from 39 legislators — one-third of the 106 members of the Legislative Yuan — who all said that such agreements should be monitored by the legislature.
The lawmakers who replied included 10 from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), 27 from the Democratic Progressive Party and two from the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union.
Citing the relaxation of restrictions on imports of certain US beef products as an example, Ho said that a lack of transparency in negotiating and signing international agreements was not only potentially harmful to the public interest, but could also harm the relationship between Taiwanese and people in other countries.
Despite a legislative resolution adopted in 2006 that requires the government to consult the legislature before lifting the ban on importing beef organs and bone-in beef from the US, the government signed an agreement lifting the ban without telling anyone in advance, Ho said.
The move angered lawmakers and the public alike, with some protesters making anti-US remarks, Ho said.
“I am a taxpayer, which makes me one of the bosses of this country, and government officials — who are paid with taxpayers’ money — are public servants,” Parents Society of Overseas Students secretary-general Johnny Huang (黃育旗) said. “Of course public servants should report to their bosses about what they are doing.”
“It’s regrettable that the US beef agreement was signed without applying for legislative approval, and that the government is trying to sign the ECFA when more than half of the public say they don’t know what it’s about,” Huang said.
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