Chen said that unless Taiwan were to completely ignore national security and surrender to China, the three links must only be opened gradually.

“The three links... cannot be allowed in one stride, or have a set timetable for their opening,” President Chen announced in his National Day address yesterday. (Click for full transcript)

He said if Beijing is sincere in promoting the three links, it must accelerate negotiations with Taipei for charter cargo flights across the strait.

The three links refer to direct mail, trade and transport links between Taiwan and China. Recent discussions regarding the three links have focused on transport links, especially direct commercial flights between Taiwan and China. Special chartered flights on certain holidays notwithstanding, travelers en route to China from Taiwan’s main island must first disembark in Hong Kong, Macau, or a foreign country before entering the mainland.

Many from the local business community have pressed the government to allow regular direct flights and shipping links across the strait to boost Taiwan’s competitiveness in the Chinese market.

The three links have become one of the focal issues in the March 2008 presidential election. Both Frank Hsieh, the presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and the opposition KMT party candidate Ma Ying-jeou have promised to expedite the passage of three links if elected.

But Chen maintained that the current “mini” three links between Taiwan’s outlying islands and China’s coastal cities are already sufficient to meet the Taiwanese people’s needs to travel directly between the two sides.

The President said Taiwan’s economy is already overly dependent on China, with cross-strait trade rising to US$88.1 billion in 2006 from US$31.2 billion in 2000. Currently, 70% of all overseas investments are bound for China, a situation that Chen described as “abnormal.”

While reluctant to fast-track ties with China, Chen reiterated the government’s determination to join the United Nations — a move that has strained Taipei-Beijing relations in the past.

Dismissing worries that Taiwan’s economic growth is faltering as a result of the administration’s cautious China policy, President Chen stressed that Taiwan’s economy is no less impressive than that of South Korea and that the island has maintained its place as one of the “four Asian tigers.”

The president cited forecasts by Taiwan’s Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics predicting a solid 4.6 percent GDP growth for Taiwan in 2007. Government forecasts for 2007 peg Taiwan’s consumer price index gain at a modest 1.5 percent compared to 2.5 percent in South Korea while unemployment rate for the year is estimated to be 3.8 percent in Taiwan and 3.3 percent in South Korea.

The president also cited Taiwan’s low income disparity: Government statistics show that the ratio of average incomes between the top 20 percent and lowest 20 percent of the income spectrum is 6 to 1 in Taiwan versus 8 to 1 in South Korea.

Quoting the 2007 World Competitiveness Report released May 10th by the International Institute for Management Development, President Chen congratulated Taiwan for her 18th ranking compared to 29th-ranked South Korea.

President Chen accused his opponents of seeking personal political gains by downplaying Taiwan’s achievements and wrongfully proclaiming that Taiwan has lost its place as one of the “four Asian tigers.”

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