China said yesterday it was willing to help Taiwan boost its economy if it required assistance to weather the world economic slowdown.
The statement was made at a meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials and their Chinese Communist Party (CCP) counterparts in Shanghai.
“If the worsening global economic situation continues and the Taiwan side asks for help to solve economic difficulties, the mainland is willing to offer assistance with utmost efforts,” said Jia Qinglin (賈慶林), the fourth most powerful person in the CCP, Xinhua news agency said.
PHOTO: AP
Jia did not specify what kind of assistance or how much would be offered.
Stimulus measures by China to boost its economy would provide trade and investment opportunities for Taiwanese businesspeople, he said.
The two-day KMT-CCP forum was held to discuss cooperation in financial and service industries and two-way investment opened in Shanghai. KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and former chairman Lien Chan (連戰) attended, as well as 400 delegates including businesspeople, experts and officials from the two sides, Xinhua said.
Jia said the two sides should “actively develop and promote cooperation to work together in combating the financial global crisis,” and “actively promote negotiations and strive for substantial improvements in terms of financial cooperation between both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait.”
He said both sides should strive to sign agreements and resolve the problems caused by having separate institutions in Taiwan and China.
Jia also said that the two sides should “adopt measures to actively develop industrial cooperation between Taiwan and China and increase the depth and scope of industrial cooperation.”
This would include promoting the establishment of a cooperative mechanism aimed at complementing the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwanese and Chinese businesses, he said.
Cooperation between Taiwan and China in the high-tech sector and core sciences should be strengthened, he said, adding that uniform technological standards, intellectual property rights and brands should be established.
The pace of scientific discoveries and their industrial application should be accelerated and the joint development of oil and gas resources as well as cooperation in the service industry should be encouraged, he said.
Saying that many problems, such as the normalization of cross-strait economic relations, remained unresolved, Jia said some Chinese products continued to face import restrictions in Taiwan. He also said there were restrictions on Chinese companies that sought to invest in Taiwan. To address this, he said the normalization of the flow of production factors such as funds, information and technology should be accelerated.
China hopes that Taiwan can support and create the necessary conditions for Chinese businesses that wish to invest in Taiwan, he said, adding that Chinese businesses that possess the necessary abilities could help Taiwan.
Negotiations can be held on the issues of opening the Taiwanese economy to Chinese products and the potential impact this may have on the Taiwanese industry, he said.
Jia also proposed “actively searching for ways to establish a mechanism for cross-strait economic cooperation as soon as possible.”
There is now a pressing need to establish a systematic, stable and standard mechanism for cross-strait economic cooperation, he said. Such a mechanism would be helpful for both sides to discuss serious issues related to economic cooperation and in prioritizing areas in which cooperation can be carried out, he said.
It could also be used to regulate China and Taiwan’s investment and trade policies, while also maximizing the allocation of economic resources, he said, adding that “these moves would all help maximize economic benefits for peoples on both sides of the Strait.”
In Taipei, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) yesterday called Jia’s comments “ridiculous.”
“We all know that China itself has been seriously hit by the recent global economic crisis. Unemployment [in China] is on the rise and a number of pessimistic news about its economy have surfaced,” Kuan said. “China cannot be Taiwan’s economic savior.”
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) expressed a similar view, while adding that she appreciated China’s offer.
“If China really wants something to boost the economy — not only in Taiwan, but also in China itself — they should first withdraw the more than 1,000 missiles they deploy on the southeast coast targeting Taiwan,” Tien said.
“If they got rid of the missiles, they would save a lot of money used in maintaining the missile bases. They could invest that money in their own market and spare their economy a little,” she said.
“The gesture — as a sign of peaceful development in relationship between the two countries — would reassure foreign investors that it’s safe to invest in both countries, which could pay economic dividends for both sides.”
KMT lawmakers welcomed Jia’s announcement, but said it remained to be seen how China would translate that promise into action.
“Actions speak louder than words,” KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) said via a telephone interview.
“We’ve been in negotiations for such a long time, they should know what we want already. So if they’re sincere about it, they must prove it with actual actions rather than words,” Hung said.
KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said the Chinese economy remained strong even after being hit by the global financial crisis and was therefore in a position to help Taiwan. The question, however, remained how, he said.
“The entire world is suffering in the financial crisis, but open economies have been hit harder than the less open ones,” he said. “China, being a less open economy, hasn’t been hit as much as other countries, such as the US.”
As China still leads the world in foreign reserves and has a high GDP, “the Chinese economy is, overall, still bigger and stronger than the Taiwanese economy, so of course they can help us,” he said.
Lai said the question remained how China could help Taiwan, adding it would help if Taiwan and China accelerated talks on economic issues.
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