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Taiwanese-Americans attack ECFA
'ONE-WAY TICKET': At an academic conference, one writer
warned against Taiwan tying itself to Beijing through an ECFA when economic
bubbles in China are set to burst
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER, WASHINGTON
Saturday, May 22, 2010, Page 1
A large group of Taiwanese-Americans have launched a three-pronged attack on an
economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China,
claiming that it is no more than “a fast track toward annexation of Taiwan by
China.”
They have sent a joint statement to US President Barack Obama calling on him to
urge Taiwan’s government to conduct a public and democratic referendum on an
ECFA; they have organized a Washington conference for prominent academics to
condemn an ECFA; and they have 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 joint statement to Obama, backed by 16 of the largest and most influential
Taiwanese-American organizations, also asks the president to negotiate a
free-trade agreement with Taiwan.
It says that because China may use an ECFA to take over Taiwan, the agreement
would ultimately have a negative impact on the US strategic position in East
Asia.
“Annexation of Taiwan by the [People’s Republic of China] would deprive the
United States of a heretofore reliable ally in the western Pacific,” the
statement says. “Since Taiwan straddles the sea lanes that supply materials and
energy to South Korea and Japan, the loss of Taiwan would substantially increase
the vulnerability of these US allies to China’s coercion.”
In their letter to the speaker, the Taiwan supporters — 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 —
say they are concerned by the lack of transparency and legislative checks and
balances in ECFA negotiations.
“There is no clarity on what the agreement would entail or what impact it would
have on Taiwan’s economy, in particular its agriculture, small and medium-sized
industries and the labor force,” the letter says. “Many in Taiwan and abroad are
also concerned about the impact of closer economic ties on Taiwan’s de facto
independence and sovereignty; they feel that closer economic ties will give the
government in Beijing leverage to push Taiwan into further political isolation.”
The letter and the statement to Obama were released at the Washington conference
of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which featured
presentations by Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), former Taiwanese deputy premier and now
president of the Taiwan Braintrust; June Teufel Dreyer, a political scientist at
the University of Miami; Arthur Waldron, professor of international relations at
the University of Pennsylvania; and Gordon Chang (章家敦), author of The Coming
Collapse of China.
Wu warned that Taiwan could be “totally marginalized” by an ECFA and that there
was speculation the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wanted to
“accelerate” unification with China.
Dreyer said the Ma administration was not telling the truth about all aspects of
an ECFA and that it was “doing its very best to obfuscate.”
“While it is saying that [an] ECFA is going to create 100,000 jobs, what it is
not telling you is that it may destroy 200,000 jobs,” she said.
Chang said that China’s economy was on a “sugar high” and was full of economic
bubbles that were getting ready to burst.
“If Taiwan ties its economy to China through an ECFA, it loses control of its
economy,” he said. “If China’s bubbles burst and its economy collapses, as a
number of scholars, investors and analysts have said that it might do in the
next 12 months, then Taiwan’s economy could crash as well. ECFA is a one-way
ticket to economic failure in China.”
Waldron said one problem in dealing with China was that trade and economic
relations were not genuinely free — the currency was not convertible, exchange
rates were controlled, interest rates were essentially determined.
“If Taiwan signs an agreement in which she places her economic future in the
hands of another vast population that is in flux and is ungoverned by any sorts
of laws, then she is giving away another piece of her autonomy and her
sovereignty,” he said.
“At a minimum, we should call for a full and open discussion of this agreement
so that everyone in Taiwan is fully informed of what it says and what it means.
But consulting the people of Taiwan is exactly the opposite of what the
negotiators want to do,” he said.
Koh Sebo, a spokesman for the Taiwanese-American associations, said that the
government in Beijing wanted to use an ECFA as a tool or first step to get
Taiwan into the Chinese sphere of influence and put the Taiwanese economy
“firmly in the grip of China.”
“If Taiwan becomes an unsinkable aircraft carrier for China the whole western
Pacific will be threatened,” he said.
The last word came from FAPA president Bob Yang.
“Members of the US Congress have already referred to ECFA as a ‘Trojan Horse,’ a
‘cage’ and a ‘trap.’ We agree,” he said. “The bottom line is that ECFA is a
political tool that masquerades as a trade instrument to achieve China’s
ultimate goal of annexing Taiwan.”
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