ID :
130468
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 22:05
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/130468
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Taiwan, China sign crucial free trade deal
CHONGQING, China, June 29 Kyodo -
After six months of intense and complex negotiations, Taiwan and China signed a
landmark, limited free-trade agreement Tuesday that promises to impact
profoundly, if uncertainly, on the relationship across the Taiwan Strait.
The new Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement reduces tariffs on select
goods and services over two years and establishes a system for negotiations on
wider trade concessions and investment.
The signing ceremony followed the latest summit between Taiwan's Straits
Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan
Strait.
The semiofficial organizations, headed by Chiang Pin-kung and Chen Yunlin,
respectively, handle negotiations in the absence of formal ties between the two
governments.
The ECFA and a separate intellectual property protection deal were signed in
front of four rows of delegates from both sides before Chiang and Chen
presented each other with gifts and toasted one another and their colleagues.
Hundreds of export items in the petrochemical, machinery, textile, bicycle and
other categories have already been named as part of an ''early harvest list''
of goods to receive concessions, though Taiwan is the greater beneficiary, with
539 products worth $13.83 billion enjoying eventual tariff removal, compared
with 267 worth $2.86 billion for China.
Services to see lifting of restrictions or shortened waiting periods include
banking, accounting, feature films, air cargo, insurance and investment.
''We know the ECFA is just a beginning,'' Chiang said at a meeting with Wang
Yi, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, after the ceremony.
''The two sides of the Taiwan Strait must continue to work hard because this
beginning is of great consequence to places receiving cross-strait investment,
to economic integration and to cooperation with other trade partners,'' he
said.
The text of the ECFA contains no political language, as several top Taiwanese
officials promised, consistent with President Ma Ying-jeou's election
commitment of not engaging in negotiations for unification.
Even so, the ECFA negotiations were shadowed by opposition party suspicion and
eventual hostility, partisan media debate and confusion among many people about
the document's content and reasons for its creation.
Members of both delegations were careful to avoid overt political language in
their Chongqing press conferences, consistent with the ''easy things first,
then difficult things'' yardstick for the negotiations.
During his opening address to the summit, however, Chen used the
expression-cum-slogan ''peaceful cross-strait development'' eight times and
said development should promote not only economic reform but also ''Chinese
culture,'' reflecting political undercurrents in the negotiating process.
In reply, Chiang said cross-strait agreements and systematic negotiations have
elevated the relationship to one of ''normalized maturity.''
''The improvement in cross-strait relations is not indicated only by close and
frequent interaction and exchanges between the two sides, but also, in the
context of the broader external environment, the creation of unprecedented
circumstances of detente, which has gained affirmation from people on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait and the world,'' he said.
In Taipei, President Ma Ying-jeou reinforced this portrayal of the ECFA as a
peacemaker.
The semiofficial Central News Agency quoted Ma as saying the significance of
the ECFA lies not just in promoting globalization, establishing workable
mechanisms and avoiding economic marginalization, but also in the feeling that
cross-strait peace and prosperity is not an impossible dream.
''We can just about touch them,'' he said.
The ECFA does not come into force until it is approved by Taiwan's legislature,
which is expected to convene an extraordinary session in July to debate the
document.
The ruling Nationalist Party has a firm grip on the chamber, but political and
legal hurdles may delay implementation of the ECFA by some months.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party and even Legislative Speaker Wang
Jin-pyng of the Nationalists have raised concerns about how the ECFA will pass
the floor, while Wang Mei-hua, the head of Taiwan's Intellectual Property
Office, told a press conference in Chongqing on Tuesday three laws must be
amended to accommodate the deals.
Apart from green-lighting the ECFA and the intellectual property deal, the
summit discussed the agenda for the sixth Chiang-Chen meeting, likely to be in
Taiwan at the end of the year.
It also discussed the process to determine the next round of items to get
tariff-free treatment and a possible agreement on cross-strait investment
protection and promotion.
The Taiwanese delegation will meet Wednesday the increasingly powerful head of
Chongqing's Communist Party apparatus, Bo Xilai, whose lobbying reportedly
helped to secure the hosting of Tuesday's summit and signing ceremony.
==Kyodo
After six months of intense and complex negotiations, Taiwan and China signed a
landmark, limited free-trade agreement Tuesday that promises to impact
profoundly, if uncertainly, on the relationship across the Taiwan Strait.
The new Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement reduces tariffs on select
goods and services over two years and establishes a system for negotiations on
wider trade concessions and investment.
The signing ceremony followed the latest summit between Taiwan's Straits
Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan
Strait.
The semiofficial organizations, headed by Chiang Pin-kung and Chen Yunlin,
respectively, handle negotiations in the absence of formal ties between the two
governments.
The ECFA and a separate intellectual property protection deal were signed in
front of four rows of delegates from both sides before Chiang and Chen
presented each other with gifts and toasted one another and their colleagues.
Hundreds of export items in the petrochemical, machinery, textile, bicycle and
other categories have already been named as part of an ''early harvest list''
of goods to receive concessions, though Taiwan is the greater beneficiary, with
539 products worth $13.83 billion enjoying eventual tariff removal, compared
with 267 worth $2.86 billion for China.
Services to see lifting of restrictions or shortened waiting periods include
banking, accounting, feature films, air cargo, insurance and investment.
''We know the ECFA is just a beginning,'' Chiang said at a meeting with Wang
Yi, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, after the ceremony.
''The two sides of the Taiwan Strait must continue to work hard because this
beginning is of great consequence to places receiving cross-strait investment,
to economic integration and to cooperation with other trade partners,'' he
said.
The text of the ECFA contains no political language, as several top Taiwanese
officials promised, consistent with President Ma Ying-jeou's election
commitment of not engaging in negotiations for unification.
Even so, the ECFA negotiations were shadowed by opposition party suspicion and
eventual hostility, partisan media debate and confusion among many people about
the document's content and reasons for its creation.
Members of both delegations were careful to avoid overt political language in
their Chongqing press conferences, consistent with the ''easy things first,
then difficult things'' yardstick for the negotiations.
During his opening address to the summit, however, Chen used the
expression-cum-slogan ''peaceful cross-strait development'' eight times and
said development should promote not only economic reform but also ''Chinese
culture,'' reflecting political undercurrents in the negotiating process.
In reply, Chiang said cross-strait agreements and systematic negotiations have
elevated the relationship to one of ''normalized maturity.''
''The improvement in cross-strait relations is not indicated only by close and
frequent interaction and exchanges between the two sides, but also, in the
context of the broader external environment, the creation of unprecedented
circumstances of detente, which has gained affirmation from people on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait and the world,'' he said.
In Taipei, President Ma Ying-jeou reinforced this portrayal of the ECFA as a
peacemaker.
The semiofficial Central News Agency quoted Ma as saying the significance of
the ECFA lies not just in promoting globalization, establishing workable
mechanisms and avoiding economic marginalization, but also in the feeling that
cross-strait peace and prosperity is not an impossible dream.
''We can just about touch them,'' he said.
The ECFA does not come into force until it is approved by Taiwan's legislature,
which is expected to convene an extraordinary session in July to debate the
document.
The ruling Nationalist Party has a firm grip on the chamber, but political and
legal hurdles may delay implementation of the ECFA by some months.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party and even Legislative Speaker Wang
Jin-pyng of the Nationalists have raised concerns about how the ECFA will pass
the floor, while Wang Mei-hua, the head of Taiwan's Intellectual Property
Office, told a press conference in Chongqing on Tuesday three laws must be
amended to accommodate the deals.
Apart from green-lighting the ECFA and the intellectual property deal, the
summit discussed the agenda for the sixth Chiang-Chen meeting, likely to be in
Taiwan at the end of the year.
It also discussed the process to determine the next round of items to get
tariff-free treatment and a possible agreement on cross-strait investment
protection and promotion.
The Taiwanese delegation will meet Wednesday the increasingly powerful head of
Chongqing's Communist Party apparatus, Bo Xilai, whose lobbying reportedly
helped to secure the hosting of Tuesday's summit and signing ceremony.
==Kyodo
