Impatience has put President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration in an unfavorable position when it comes to negotiating an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with Beijing, a former top negotiator said yesterday.
Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐), who served as National Security Council deputy secretary-general during Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) presidency, said that it was important to strengthen the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” before negotiating with Beijing.
Taking the example of both sides’ bids to join the WTO, Chang said Taipei had Washington’s backing that if Beijing obstructed Taiwan’s bid, Washington would strike down Beijing’s attempt to join the organization.
To be impatient only puts Taiwan in an adverse position when negotiating with Beijing, Chang said, adding that it was “stupid” for the administration to show its eagerness to sign the proposed pact by revealing its deadline.
“The administration must realize that negotiating is always a means and not the objective,” he said. “Unfortunately, it considers negotiation as the goal. It seems it does not care about the content of the agreement, as long as there is one.”
The Ma administration has expressed the hope that it can sign the planned pact by next year.
Likening signing of an ECFA to buying a house, Chang said the buyer would put himself in a bad position if he or she sent out invitations to a house warming party before the house had been purchased because the buyer would then have to pay whatever price has been offered to obtain the property.
Chang said the administration should also have taken advantage of legislative supervision.
Emphasizing the importance of procedural negotiations leading to actual talks, Chang said the negotiations were the decisive battle because that was when the agenda was set, compromises were made and bottom lines were revealed.
Before both sides began negotiating, Chang said the administration must have thorough information and analysis of Beijing’s negotiation team, strategy and options.
Both the administration and Beijing have expressed the hope that they can sign a peace agreement, but Chang said since both sides were no longer in military conflict, the peace agreement Beijing wanted was political in nature and it could easily be used to persuade Washington to stop selling weapons to Taiwan.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS