The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday questioned a trade dispute mediation mechanism under the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), saying that it would only disadvantage the nation.
As the government plans to make public a cross-strait agreement on the dispute-solving mechanism under the agreement, TSU Policy Committee chairman Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) and TSU caucus whip Yeh Chin-ling (葉津鈴) said that the mechanism would only work to the nation’s disadvantage, and urged the government to refrain from adopting it.
“It would usually be more favorable for a smaller country if trade disputes between smaller and larger countries are resolved under an internationally accepted mechanism regulated by international laws,” Yeh told a press conference at the caucus office. “But the so-called ‘ECFA’ mechanism is aimed at resolving disputes through cross-strait conciliation, and this is very disadvantageous for Taiwan.”
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Hsu said that, under the ECFA mechanism, the first step in resolving disputes would be cross-strait negotiations, and if the problem is not resolved, it would enter into the conciliation phase, mediated by a third party. If conciliation still could not resolve the dispute, he said, then it would enter into an arbitration phase.
“The problem is that, when Taiwan and China are trying to resolve a dispute through a third person, wouldn’t the mediator more likely be influenced by the larger nation?” Hsu said. “When the dispute enters into the arbitration phase, wouldn’t the arbitrator also be influenced by the larger nation?”
He said that Taiwan and China should settle disputes through a more reliable international mediation mechanism, overseen by a body such as the WTO, since both countries are members of the organization.
“If the government cannot come up with a mechanism that’s actually favorable to Taiwan, it should stop its negotiation with China now for a mechanism under the ECFA,” he said.
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