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Ma's office pans DPP's resignation call
NO PUBLIC VOTE: The Presidential Office dismissed calls
for a referendum on an ECFA with China, saying most countries did not hold one
before signing such a pact
By Mo Yan-chih
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Apr 03, 2010, Page 1
One day after agreeing to hold a debate on a proposed economic cooperation
framework agreement (ECFA) with China, the Presidential Office yesterday traded
barbs with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on whether President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) should step down if the government failed to hold a referendum on the
issue.
Presidential Office Spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said most of the 200
free-trade agreements (FTAs) that had been inked around the world did not go
through a national referendum before being signed, and the former DPP
administration did not hold referendums, either, when signing FTAs with allies
at the time.
“Isn't it a double standard asking the government to hold a referendum now
because we are signing a cross-strait economic agreement?” he said yesterday in
response to DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan's (蘇嘉全) comments that the Ma
administration should step down if it failed to hold a referendum on an ECFA.
The Ma administration is pushing hard for the signing of an ECFA with China,
which it said would prevent Taiwan from being marginalized amid regional
economic development. Critics, including the DPP, however, oppose the planned
trade pact amid fears it would jeopardize Taiwan's sovereignty, make it too
economically dependent on China and lead to an influx of Chinese capital and
goods.
Su and Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) agreed on
Thursday to set up a debate between DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Ma on
a proposed ECFA before the end of the month. The debate is one of the DPP's key
demands on inking the pact. The party is also pushing for a referendum and more
legislative oversight on the agreement before it is signed.
Lo yesterday said the DPP should understand the importance of an ECFA to
Taiwan's economic development and should offer alternative solutions or other
constructive comments if it opposed the government's plan to sign the pact with
China.
“The DPP should not oppose [an ECFA] for no reason and keep the nation
marginalized. Isolating Taiwan from the world will only harm the nation's
economy,” he said.
The DPP yesterday dismissed Lo's allegation that the party has a double
standard.
Saying that China is hostile to Taiwan and has more than 1,000 missiles targeted
at Taiwan, DPP spokesman Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) said: “How could the Chinese
Nationalist Party (KMT) compare China with other countries [that signed FTAs
with Taiwan]?”
Lin said Su had made it clear in a press conference on Thursday that if Ma did
not respond to calls for a referendum but chose to go against public opinion and
forge ahead with the signing of an ECFA, Taiwanese would use their voices to
force the KMT to step down.
To prepare for the debate with Ma on an ECFA, the DPP set up a task force
yesterday.
“We will begin operations next week by seeking opinions from academics and
experts on China affairs, as well as commercial and industrial leaders,” DPP
spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said, adding that he would meet Lo and Public
Television Service chairman Cheng Tung-liao (鄭同僚) next week to hammer out the
details of the debate.
KMT Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said his party would be well-prepared to debate
on issues related to an ECFA with the DPP, urging the opposition to refrain from
shifting the focus of the debate to a referendum.
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