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DPP lauches meetings
to assess trade pact effects
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is to begin visiting business sector
representatives today to consult with them about the potential impacts of the
cross-strait service trade agreement, something President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九)
administration neglected to do before it signed the pact in Shanghai, China, on
Friday, the party said.
The DPP also proposed employing clause-by-clause screening and voting when the
legislature reviews the pact in the extra legislative session to minimize any
damage the business sectors may suffer after the implementation of the pact,
which will open 64 local industries to Chinese investment and give Taiwan access
to 80 of China’s industries.
DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) is to meet with the Chinese herbal apothecary
associations of Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) today, as well as with
representatives of shop owners in Taipei’s Dihua Street (迪化街) known for its —
Chinese herbal products — in the first of a series of meetings with members of
the sectors included in the pact’s liberalization list, the DPP said yesterday.
Su is also planning to meet with representatives of the publishing, printing,
tourism and construction sectors, among others, DPP Department of China Affairs
director Honnigman Hong (洪財隆).
On Saturday, Su said he would convene a meeting with the mayors and
commissioners of DPP-governed cities and counties to discuss the potential
effects of the agreement, as well as countermeasures and strategies for those
repercussions.
The party on Saturday responded angrily to the pact’s signing, denouncing the
government’s “arrogant” attitude during the negotiation process as “a serious
violation of the democratic process” because the talks were not transparent.
The DPP added that aside from not consulting with local businesses, the
government also failed to compile a comprehensive assessment report on the
deal’s effects prior to signing it.
Since the pact has already been inked, the party said is trying to minimize any
potential damage to the economy by requesting that the legislature screen the
agreement clause-by-clause.
In response to the DPP’s request, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi
(王郁琦) said he agreed with clause-by-clause screening, but that the pact should
be put to vote as a package.
However, DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said the party risks
committing the same mistake it made when it reviewed the Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement in 2010 if it agrees to Wang’s counterproposal.
The party would inevitably be forced to vote against the pact if the agreement
was voted on as a package, which could once again create the false perception
that the DPP opposes any cross-strait economic exchanges, Lin said.
“We cannot afford to make that same error again,” he said.
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