Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) yesterday said Taiwan cannot afford to damage its reputation by withdrawing the cross-strait service trade pact, because that would lead to the nation becoming marginalized in the global economy.
“Taiwan’s economic development has long been reliant on foreign trade, but we need to recognize that up to 60 percent of the country’s exports over the past few decades were goods,” Chang told a press conference in Taipei.
“It is time for Taiwanese service providers to explore the global market,” Chang said. “They can break into [the] China [market] with the help of the cross-strait service trade pact, or [into] other countries’ [markets].”
In response to student protesters’ demand that the pact be withdrawn, Chang said that Taiwan’s economic development would face difficulties if the nation chooses to block paths that have been built to lead to economic growth through international trade.
The pact, which was inked in June last year, can bring more beneficial than adverse impacts to the country’s tertiary sector, Chang added, citing studies conducted by the ministry’s trade negotiations office.
“The ministry admitted it could have done a better job in promoting the service trade pact, but we are intolerant of people who try to stain the trade agreement in a deliberate manner,” Chang said.
An outright decision to terminate the agreement may prompt suspension of follow-up negotiations on an agreement of trade in goods that was proposed under the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Chang said.
He added that withdrawing the pact may also render the nation unable to sign new trade agreements with other countries in the future, “because we would then prove to the world that Taiwan is a country without creditability.”
On protesters’ concern that the pact was signed without communicating with industries, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) said: “The pact is not an under-the-table deal.”
“The ministry made at least three separate reports to the legislature about the trade negotiations office’s plan for trade talks on the pact, including one secret meeting,” Cho said. “We also met with many industry representatives ahead of signing the trade pact.”
Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said the pact has been “misinterpreted” by intellectuals, including National Taiwan University economics professor Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲) and former national policy advisor Rex How (郝明義).
Duh denied Jang’s claim that opening up Taiwan’s service market would cause millions of job losses.
As for How’s concern that Chinese operators would take over Taiwan’s telecom industry and thus harm the nation’s national security once the service trade pact is approved, Duh said: “The government has a mechanism that monitors who enters telecom operators’ machine rooms and will safeguard national security.”
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of