Beijing’s move to cancel tariff cuts for some Taiwanese imports is a bid to interfere in next month’s elections by taking the economy hostage, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus deputy
secretary-general Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said yesterday, as the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) called for negotiations with China.
The DPP has on numerous occasions underlined China’s manipulation of trade issues surrounding the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) as bargaining chips and leverage, Hung said.
Photo: Reuters
He reiterated the party’s stance that Taiwan and China as members of the WTO should use the venue to air trade complaints.
“By circumventing international trade rules, China made clear its intention to take cross-strait trade hostage to interfere in Taiwan’s elections,” he said.
KMT presidential candidate New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are united in their support for continuing ECFA negotiations, which would increase dependence on China, Hung said.
Separately, Hou said that China’s decision would hurt the feelings of Taiwanese and would not facilitate cross-strait exchanges.
“I propose that we quickly negotiate with China over these trade disputes under the ECFA, or industries in Taiwan would suffer,” Hou told reporters.
“We were already alarmed about the possibility that China could terminate the ECFA when it launched an investigation into trade barriers between Taiwan and China. However, the DPP government has not provided any solutions to resolve this issue in the past eight months,” he said.
KMT vice presidential candidate Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康) said he opposed China’s decision.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) should not engage in this kind of ploy before the elections in Taiwan,” Jaw said. “This will affect Taiwan’s petrochemical industry, which might have fewer job openings for young people now.”
However, Jaw disagreed that cross-strait trade disputes should be settled through the WTO.
“The WTO might think that Taiwan engages in unfair trade practices because it restricts imports of more than 2,000 items from China, which would place Taiwan in a disadvantageous position. We would win more concessions from China if we negotiate under the ECFA,” Jaw said, adding that if he and Hou are elected, they would ask China to treat Taiwan fairly.
“It is only fair that a large player like China yields to a small player like Taiwan,” Jaw said.
Meanwhile, Chihlee University of Technology Department of International Trade associate professor Chang Hung-yuan (張弘遠) said that Beijing utilizes the ECFA as an instrument of economic coercion.
China is sending a reminder that Taiwanese would pay a price for voting for the wrong candidate, he said, adding that China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) made its political intent obvious by talking about restarting negotiations on the condition that Taiwan recognize the so-called “1992 consensus.”
The “1992 consensus” refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the CCP that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The termination of favorable tariffs coincided with a televised event for the candidates to present their campaign platforms, showing that Beijing’s election meddling tactics have become more sophisticated, Chang said.
Chang Wu-yue (張五岳), a professor at Tamkang University’s Institute of Mainland China Studies, said that it was unprecedented for Beijing to time economic retaliation with Taiwan’s presidential election.
The suspension of tariff cuts echoed the TAO’s previous statement that next month’s election is a choice between war and peace, prosperity and decline, he said.
Beijing is not likely to entirely abrogate the ECFA due to its perception that trade is its most powerful tool for combatting “separatism” in Taiwan, he said, citing the finding of China’s All-National Taiwan Work Conference in 1991.
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