China calls for earlier ECFA at Boao

While addressing a local Lions Club, the vice president reemphasized that the agreement is vital to the island's economic development.

Owing to its geographic location along leading regional shipping lines, Siew said Taiwan has engaged actively with other states ever since it began to shift its economic cornerstone from agriculture to industry.

“The history of the last five or six decades has proved that we are moving on the right path,” said Siew, who served as the country's top economic architect for many years.

The future development of Taiwan's economy rests on industrial innovation, research and development, designing, and marketing.

It also rests on Taiwan's incorporation into international communities following the inception of an increasing number of regional trade pacts, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the European Union.

“Unfortunately, Taiwan was excluded from most of these regional trade blocs due to political reasons,” the vice president said.

However, Taiwan's trade pact with China will serve as a stepping stone for the island to move into a prominent position on the international stage and encourage the United States and Japan to cooperate with Taiwan more closely on economic issues.

As with any other bilateral agreement, the pact will bring about both positive and negative effects on the island's economy, and what the government should do is to maximize the positive results while minimizing the negative impact.

“We are on a threshold in terms of the country's economic development,” the vice president said, adding that Taiwan should not draw in its horns at this critical moment.

President Ma Ying-jeou's administration is working hard to conclude the pact with Beijing in June in hopes of reducing the island's marginalization after the introduction of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in January.

However, the opposition parties, led by the Democratic Progressive Party, are pulling out all the stops to block the pact over concerns that it would cause the integration of the island more closely into China and adversely impact Taiwan's sovereignty.

Ma is slated to defend his policy in a public debate with DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen on April 25.

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