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ECFA part of a global trend Ma
NO OVERSIGHT? : The MAC denied there was a lack of oversight and transparency
in the ECFA negotiations, saying the deal would be sent to the legislature for
approval
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, May 23, 2010, Page 3
Members of the ECFA Referendum Action Alliance
protest against the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA)
outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday. Yesterday was the third and last day of
a sit-in demonstration organized by the alliance.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended his administration’s plan to
sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China as part of a
global trend in which Asian countries are rushing to sign bilateral trade
agreements.
“Bilateral trade negotiations have become a global trend, as it is difficult to
reach consensus in multilateral trade negotiations … Our major trade competitors
signed many bilateral trade pacts and they would be competing with Taiwan
unfairly if we didn’t sign an ECFA,” Ma said as he traveled to Kaohsiung County
to promote an ECFA to a group of residents.
Countries are seeking to sign bilateral trade pacts, including free-trade
agreements (FTA), he said. In Asia, South Korea has signed seven FTAs, China
nine, Japan 11 and Singapore 14. Taiwan and North Korea are the only countries
that are not signing FTAs, Ma said.
“An ECFA will attract more foreign investors to Taiwan and create jobs … People
should not worry about losing their job after an ECFA is signed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday dismissed accusations
from a group of Taiwanese Americans that there has been a lack of oversight on
an ECFA and said the cross-strait pact, which the Ma administration hopes to
sign next month, would be sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said that as a democracy, Taiwan has a
sound oversight mechanism through the legislature and that government bodies
accept monitoring by the legislature.
Liu said the government had put a lot of effort into making the signing of an
ECFA as transparent as possible, including reporting the process to the
Legislative Yuan and explaining it to the public.
“An ECFA is a simple cross-strait economic exchange with no sovereignty and
political issues involved. The government will send the pact to the legislature
for approval before implementation,” he said.
A group of Taiwanese Americans has sent a joint statement to US President Barack
Obama calling on him to urge the Taiwanese government to conduct a referendum on
an ECFA and released a letter from 28 major US supporters of Taiwan to
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) asking him to make a critical review of
the proposed agreement.
The statement to Obama, backed by 16 oinfluential Taiwanese-American
organizations, also asks the president to negotiate an FTA with Taiwan.
In their letter to Wang, the supporters of Taiwan — including former chairman of
the American Institute in Taiwan Nat Bellocchi and former deputy assistant to
the vice president for National Security Affairs Stephen Yates — said they were
concerned by the lack of transparency and legislative checks and balances in
ECFA negotiations.
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