Critics of the government yesterday told a forum that the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China was tantamount to a “one China market.”
Kenneth Lin (林向愷), an economics professor at National Taiwan University, said Taiwan would lose its right to make decisions about its survival, development and sovereignty if it signed an ECFA with China, as the ultimate goal of such an agreement would be to remove the barriers to the movement of capital, products, personnel and technology between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait under the framework of a “one-China market.”
Although the ECFA with China could benefit some industries, the government has not told the public the impact it would have on other industries and on sovereignty, he told the forum yesterday hosted by the Taiwan Shadow Government think tank founded by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷).
Former minister of finance and former Taiwan permanent representative to the WTO Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) said an ECFA would be little more than a “letter of intent” with a timetable. It would be a framework for achieving a substantial free-trade agreement (FTA), but would lack any content, he said.
Yen said an ECFA would be a totally “void” pact with no immediate impact on Taiwan’s economy, contrary to what Ma has portrayed, as mutually beneficial measures such as the opening of Taiwan’s market would be necessary to achieve a substantial FTA.
Former vice premier Wu Rong-yi (吳榮義) told the forum it was strange that while China blocks Taiwan from signing any FTAs or similar pacts with other countries, it wants to ink one with Taiwan.
“The roads are all blocked and there is only one path left, but it leads to a trap,” Wu said, adding that there must be some political motivation behind China’s wish to sign an economic agreement with Taiwan.
Also at the forum, Hsieh said: “President Ma promised the economic treaty with China would not involve issues of sovereignty, but Ma has broken his promises many times on various policies before. Are we to believe his word again and risk the country’s existence?”
Hsieh called on the Ma administration to tell the people the truth about the proposed economic pact and to craft a long-term economic development strategy rather than focus on short-term bailout programs.
“Any economic agreement signed between two countries must be mutually beneficial if it is to last,” Hsieh said. “Can this really be something that is so heavily in favor of Taiwan? There must be other motives behind this.”
There should be more transparent discussion on the possibility of signing an ECFA with China, Hsieh said, urging the government not to rush into a decision on the proposal. Public consensus might be more attainable if there are in-depth debates on the issue and on Taiwan’s best interests in the situation, Hsieh said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but