Ma hopes ECFA will help ties with ASEAN

Ma said Taiwan, which is seeking to sign an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China, is eager to play a role in the ongoing economic integration in Asia. He was addressing a ceremony in Taipei unveiling the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center (TASC).

An international conference on Taiwan-ASEAN economic cooperation and strategy, organized by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) and TASC, also kicked off.

A Malaysian lawmaker told the conference that ASEAN cannot change its one-China policy, but the positive developments in cross-strait relations can help the island in its efforts to sign free trade pacts with ASEAN members.

Tan Sri Dato' Seri Syed Hamid bin Syed Jaafar Albar, a former foreign minister of Malaysia, said China-Taiwan relations need to be changed before any change can take place in relations between Taiwan and ASEAN.

ASEAN will be closely watching the movement of Taiwan and China toward integration, he said. He said ASEAN is different from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which handles mostly economic issues. Taiwan needs to solve its sovereignty problem before it can join ASEAN plus three (China, Japan and South Korea), he added.

The two-day international conference has invited several scholars and experts from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to discuss a wide range of topics. The topics include the impact of the global financial crisis on the regional economy and the implications on regional integration, economic cooperation between Taiwan and ASEAN, Taiwan-ASEAN cooperation beyond economic interests, and ECFA.

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