Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) yesterday said the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) that the government intends to sign with Beijing this month would allow Taiwanese hospitals to establish branches in China.
Siew dismissed speculation that the accord would allow Chinese-trained doctors to practice medicine in Taiwan, saying the public might have misunderstood the agreement on Taiwanese hospitals being allowed to establish facilities in certain Chinese cities.
Siew said that while the ECFA had “political meaning,” the public “should not see political connotations in the text.”
“The content of the document is purely economic and is very similar to the free-trade agreement signed by China and ASEAN countries,” he said.
Siew made the remarks during an interview on CTiTV yesterday morning.
Asked whether the two sides would sign the trade deal by the end of this month as planned, Siew said negotiations had reached the final stages and the government could not afford to stall.
While the government still hopes to include more items on the “early harvest” list, other areas have made substantial progress, he said.
The early harvest list refers to a list of goods and services that will be subject to immediate tariff concessions or exemptions. It is expected to form the backbone of the proposed deal.
Saying that the immediate effect of the early harvest list would be limited, Siew urged the public to judge the worth of the pact from an overall and long-term perspective.
“We hope the ECFA will help our firms boost their competitiveness on the mainland and connect with the world, so they will not be marginalized by economic integration,” he said.
Siew praised the negotiating team, saying it did a good job “on the defensive side,” but could have done more “on the offensive front.”
Siew said the government had kept its promise not to allow the import of more agricultural products from China. Moreover, the negotiating team managed to make China agree to allow 18 additional Taiwanese agricultural products to enter the Chinese market with zero tariffs, he said.
On the offensive side, Siew said that although China had agreed to accept 60 percent of the petrochemical products the administration hoped to include on the early harvest list, the negotiating team still hoped to incorporate more, especially those sectors in which Taiwan has an advantage.
Siew said the government had heard the “emotional” grievances and disappointment of some petrochemical firms, but emphasized that the early harvest list was merely “the first train” and that there would be more to come.
“For the businesses [in sectors] that were not listed on the early harvest list this time around, there will be more chances to talk in the future,” he said.
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