South Korea wary of growing trade links between China and Taiwan

Leaders from Korea and China in June agreed to start preliminary consultations by September before launching full-fledged negotiations. Private experts from the two countries have been conducting feasibility studies for years. Koreans worry that their agricultural industry would be seriously damaged by competition with cheaper Chinese goods.

“The government should consider gradual settlement of the pact rather than packaging the FTA at once, by discussing areas with less disputes first,” Kwon added.

The ECFA is also expected to spur interest among other countries in the region in pushing free trade agreements with Taiwan, a former Japanese policymaker forecasted through the Nihon Keizai Shimbun Thursday.

Japan Economic Foundation chairman Noboru Hatakeyama, a former official of Japan's Ministry of Economy, said Taiwan's signing of the pact will “help strengthen economic relations and improve bilateral ties between Taiwan and China,” which would lift Taiwan's status in the region.

Policymakers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have recently reaffirmed their push to achieve a single market and production base in 2015.

A meeting of ASEAN economic ministers on August 24-25 reiterated their commitment to promote trade facilitation measures for free flow of goods in the region. The group is to push FTAs between ASEAN and major Asia-Pacific markets including China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

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