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DPP decries
dependency on PRC
INCREASING COMPETITIVENESS? The party said few
countries in the world depend on China economically as much as Taiwan and the
trend seems to be getting stronger
By Vincent Y. Chao / Staff Reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized the cross-strait
Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) on its upcoming one-year
anniversary, saying that it has pushed Taiwan’s dependency on China to historic
highs.
Referring to government statistics, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the
tariff reducing agreement has focused trade with China at the expense of
competitiveness with other key trading partners including Japan and the US.
Ministry of Economic Affairs data shows that the percentage of exports to China
reached 41.8 percent last year, a new high, while US$4.5 billion, or 82.6
percent of Taiwan’s foreign investments, also went across the strait, another
historic high.
“There are very few countries in the world that depend on China economically as
much as Taiwan currently does,” Chen said, adding that the ECFA, instead of
reversing the trend as government officials initially claimed, appears to have
exacerbated it.
Taiwan’s exports grew 19.5 -percent in the first four months of this year, far
slower than South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong, despite the passage of the
ECFA, the DPP spokesperson said.
At the same time, Taiwan’s share of the Chinese market fell to 7.38 percent in
the first quarter, a drop from 8.4 percent in the same period last year,
reflecting the latest in a five-year trend despite the passage of the ECFA,
according to CEIC China Database statistics.
Research from the DPP suggests that Taiwan’s share of the US and Japanese
markets have both fallen in the first four months of this year to 1.82 percent
from 1.88 percent and to 2.86 percent from 3.33 percent, respectively. Together
with China, the three markets account for almost 60 percent of exports.
“Increasing the competitiveness of Taiwan’s exports requires increasing value
and continuously making breakthroughs in research. However, President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) has solely relied on the ECFA, a tariff reducing agreement, to help
Taiwanese products,” Chen said.
“The newest numbers should provide his administration with a clear warning,” he
added.
The DPP’s remarks were in response to the president’s recent interview with BBC
World News.
During the interview, broadcast on Wednesday, Ma defended his administration’s
China policy, including the ECFA, saying that the agreement has encouraged other
countries to seek closer economic ties with Taiwan.
“The ECFA effect has not only been on our trade with the mainland, but on our
entire export market,” Ma said, adding that trade with the US, Europe, Japan and
other southeast Asian countries have “also jumped.”
The DPP has not said what concrete measures it would take toward the ECFA, if
elected next year. DPP Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)
has said that parts of the agreement that are “detrimental to Taiwan” would be
reviewed if necessary.
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