Beijing’s claim regarding Taiwan’s trade barriers on goods from China is “a lingering historical issue” and should be resolved through WTO mechanisms, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday.
When both sides of the Taiwan Strait joined the WTO in the early 2000s, Taiwan already had restrictions on some products from China, MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said.
“The issue was not addressed when both sides joined the WTO, so it has been a lingering historical issue since their accession,” Liang said, adding that the matters are not related to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), an agreement between Taiwan and China.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
As it is an historical issue left over from WTO accession, “we hope that both sides can follow the WTO mechanisms and sit down to negotiate,” he added.
Liang’s statement was in response to remarks made on Wednesday by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華), who said the office “firmly supports the relevant authorities in considering further measures based on the conclusions of the investigation into Taiwan’s trade barriers.”
“As for what those measures will be, please stay tuned,” Chen added.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Saturday last week said that since the announcement of an investigation into Taiwan’s trade barriers on goods from China was published late last year, “the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have not taken any concrete steps to lift trade restrictions on the mainland.”
Authorities are considering adopting further measures based on the investigation, it added.
The ministry said in December last year it had determined that Taiwan had banned the import of more than 2,000 products from China as of November last year, which constitutes a trade barrier to China.
Taiwan has progressively opened its market to certain Chinese products, Liang said.
Throughout the years, many of the restrictions on Chinese goods have been removed, he said, without providing specific numbers or examples of the items allowed into Taiwan.
Chinese authorities are attempting to pressure Taiwanese businesses in China to continue their manufacturing or investment in China by mentioning the possibility of countermeasures in response to the supposed Taiwanese trade barriers, Liang said.
As foreign and Taiwanese businesses are gradually moving out of China, Beijing hopes to use the potential countermeasures to force Taiwanese companies to continue manufacturing or investing in China, he added.
“Actions by China may not necessarily have a direct connection with the so-called ‘trade barriers,’” Liang added.
China’s domestic demand is weak due to overproduction and low-price dumping, Liang said, adding that businesses in Taiwan competing with those in the affected sectors in China may also soon face the impact of potential countermeasures.
That includes sectors like petrochemicals, steel and textiles, Liang said.
“China is trying to resolve its problem of domestic overproduction,” he added.
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