China should consider the consequences before it suspends the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), as doing so would affect peace across the Taiwan Strait, former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) minister Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) said on Friday.
Any move by China to suspend the free-trade agreement, which was signed in 2010 during former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) tenure, would result in relations between Taiwan and China deteriorating, Chiu said.
“China should consider its actions carefully, because if it suspends the ECFA, economic cooperation and the peaceful development of bilateral ties will be impacted,” he said.
Photo: CNA
After terminating preferential tariff rates on 12 Taiwanese products at the end of last year, the Chinese Ministry of Finance on Friday announced that it would suspend the preferential rates on 134 Taiwanese products, effective June 15.
The items include base oils for lubricants, racing bicycles and textile products.
Political observers said that by expanding the number of products not covered by the preferential ECFA tariff rates and conducting two-day large-scale military drills around Taiwan last week, China was demonstrating its displeasure at the inauguration speech of President William Lai (賴清德) who was sworn in on Monday last week.
In his speech, Lai cited the Constitution, saying that “the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other.”
In the past three decades, Taiwan, like other countries, anticipated it would be able to trade with China, but such hopes evaporated as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) began pushing military aggression, Chiu said.
“If Taiwan and China suspend economic exchanges, only social exchanges would remain,” Chiu said.
While some claimed that the ECFA’s tariff concessions covered more than 400 Taiwanese products and that the suspension could be a “killer” for Taiwan’s economy, think tank Bruegel researcher Alicia Garcia-Herrero said she thought otherwise.
The agreement has become “less important” now, as Taiwan’s economic structure has changed, she said.
At a time when the global supply chain is changing, Taiwan is placing more emphasis on the US market than the China market, while the European market is expected to see more opportunities to attract Taiwanese investment, she said.
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