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Updated Sunday, March 14, 2010 12:15 am TWN, CNA

Taiwan needs trade pact with China: vice president

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Vice President Vincent Siew said Saturday that Taiwan needs to sign a trade pact with China but stressed that the government would not open its doors too wide to China.

Making his case in Taiwanese at a forum on economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan in southern Taiwan, Siew argued that when the global economy is in crisis, Taiwan is bound to feel the impact, and it must find ways to adjust to the worldwide economic earthquakes that seem to occur every 10 years.

In dealing with the crisis, Taiwan has many challenges to overcome — its national competitiveness must be enhanced, it must actively innovate domestically, and it needs markets abroad.

As Asia integrates its economy, therefore, Taiwan cannot be left on the outside, Siew said.

“Taiwan needs to sign an ECFA with China. Otherwise, it will be marginalized,” he asserted.

If Taiwan signs an ECFA with China,it can avoid being marginalized, investment and employment opportunities will increase and exports will grow, he contended.

“This is a crucial moment for the nation, and we must seize the opportunity,” he added.

He also said that Taiwan will not open its doors too wide to China while negotiating the trade pact.

“Taiwan will start with the items it most needs, then gradually move on to others,” Siew said, adding that “we will solicit the maximum benefit, and we hope to minimize the pressure on us in the future.”

He said that Taiwan's goal is tariff concessions and protection of investments and intellectual property rights.

“Taiwan will also insist on not allowing in more Chinese agricultural products or opening the door to Chinese laborers,” he added.

Siew acknowledged that the ECFA would not benefit some sectors, and he said Taiwan would try its best to exclude those sectors in the ECFA negotiations or put them off to a later date.

Meanwhile, the second round of talks on the ECFA, which Taiwan had originally hoped would take place in Taipei in early March, are now most likely to be held at the end of the month, economic officials said.

The focus of the second round of negotiations will be the exchange of “early harvest” lists, which refer to industries and services on both sides that will be granted immediate tariff concessions or more liberal trade terms under the ECFA.

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March 15, 2010 the_alliance47@

The sad thing is that while Taiwan has been isolating itself from the international community in the past decade (whether intentionally or not), it has resulted in signing the ECFA to correct this major misstep. While the ECFA is not perfect, it is necessary for Taiwan, which has been standing still the past decade while the rest of Asia has been surging forward. In fact, the ECFA relates to Newton's 1st law of motion: things at rest tend to remain at rest in the absence of a net force.



	Vice President Vincent Siew reiterates that Taiwan needs to sign a trade pact with China to cope with future challenges, but the government won't open its doors too wide to Chinese products. (CNA) Enlarge Photo


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