President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview on Friday that he’s only getting started in opening new economic links with China.
“We’re just at the beginning,” Ma said in an interview.
In the past 12 months, direct commercial flights have begun and Taiwan has opened up to Chinese tourists and relaxed rules for investment in China, and raised the cap on investment in China to 60 percent of a company’s capital from 40 percent. Last month, the government opened up 64 sectors in manufacturing, 25 in services and 11 public infrastructure projects to Chinese companies.
The two sides also ended a ban on direct shipping and postal links. Among the first parcels from China was a pair of giant pandas, Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓), whose names refer to the Chinese word for “unity.”
The Ma administration said an economic agreement to cut limits on trade with China could boost exports by about 5 percent, or US$13 billion based on last year’s figures, and add 273,000 jobs.
Defending Taiwanese firms from Chinese investment may be problematic. The combined US$643 billion value of PetroChina, the world’s biggest company by market capitalization, and Beijing-based Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, is US$49 billion — more than the total value of Taiwan’s stock market.
“A Chinese bank could cover many Taiwanese banks,” Ma said in the interview. “That’s why we’re doing it cautiously. But the general policy is quite clear: We’re opening up.”
The US and other countries welcome the rapprochement because it relieves tension in an area that threatens security in the region more than the potential nuclear crisis in North Korea, Ma said.
Sun Zhe (孫哲), a senior adviser to China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan may be playing into China’s goal of using economic clout to end any chance of formal independence.
“There’s the intention or plan to try to enmesh Taiwan’s economy, to consolidate links between the two sides. So, in that way it will be more difficult for Taiwan’s independence,” Sun said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
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