Some businesses and academics are complaining that they were coerced to endorse an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) the government seeks to sign with Beijing, Soochow University professor Luo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said yesterday.
Luo, who doubles as chief executive of Taiwan Brain Trust, said that when the think tank talked with businesspeople, trade unions and industrial groups, some complained they were “threatened” or “lured by the promise of gain” to support an ECFA or refrain from expressing their concerns over the pact.
It was clear that some academics wrote research papers to toe the government line or did so under pressure of self-censorship, he said.
Some China-based Taiwanese firms even opposed an ECFA, but did not dare publicly oppose it because they worried the administration or Beijing would react, he said.
“They told us they are very happy to see the Democratic Progressive Party oppose the pact,” Luo told reporters.
The government hopes to sign the proposed pact during the first half of this year. The second round of official negotiations is scheduled for later this month in Taipei. The administration claims the accord would boost GDP by nearly 1.7 percent and create more than a quarter million jobs.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister Kao Charng (高長), meanwhile, said the government had launched a promotional campaign to advertise an ECFA and that the public had responded positively to the pact.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the government had spent at least NT$900,000 promoting an ECFA, about half of which went to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers organizing promotional events.
Kao said an ECFA would increase Taiwan’s reliance on China economically, adding, however, that the government hoped the pact would motivate other countries to develop closer economic ties with Taiwan.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the prospects,” he said, “but it will take time to find out” if the results meet our expectations.
Kao said other countries would likely stand up to China if they considered their economic interests were being jeopardized should China seek to discourage them from signing free-trade agreements with Taiwan.
He said it was difficult to determine the potential impact of the pact because it was contingent on the scope and extent of the opening of the local market.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said about 17 industrial sectors, or 100,000 employees, would be affected by the accord. A study conducted by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research showed that about 80,000 people would be affected.
Kao said China is Taiwan’s biggest export market and that more rules would not stop businesses from investing in China, but rather discourage other countries from developing closer ties with Taiwan.
To help firms affected by the planned pact, Kao said the government would allocate NT$95 billion (US$2.98 billion) over 10 years and increase it if necessary. However, he dismissed a suggestion that businesses benefiting from an ECFA pay into the fund, saying it would be hard to determine whether profits resulted from the trade deal.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS