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Service pact
opposition slowing talks
RESISTANCE: Despite opposition to the service
deal slowing talks on a follow-up deal, MOEA officials said the government aims
to complete talks on a product pact this year
Staff writer, with CNA
Strong Taiwanese opposition to the cross-strait service trade agreement has
slowed down the pace of negotiations on further economic exchanges between
Taipei and Beijing, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday.
In June, Taiwan and China signed the service trade pact in Shanghai, considered
the most significant economic accord signed between the two sides since the
landmark Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was inked in 2010.
After the service trade agreement was reached, both sides continued negotiations
under the ECFA, with the aim to conclude talks and potentially sign a product
trade agreement by the end of this year.
However, the service trade pact has faced strong resistance from opposition
political parties, including the Democratic Progressive Party, and was not
approved during a special session of the Legislative Yuan, which ended on Friday
last week.
Academics and business leaders have also voiced fears that the pact would have a
negative impact on local service businesses and hurt the local job market.
Under the service trade pact, Taiwan has agreed to allow China to run businesses
in service sub-sectors including printing, car rental, cargo transportation,
gondolas, beauty parlors and salons, online gaming and funeral services.
Meanwhile, Beijing agreed to open sub-sectors including e-commerce, printing,
hospitals, construction and transportation to Taiwanese investors.
Officials from the MOEA said that due to the stiff resistance against the trade
pact, negotiators on the product trade pact have proceeded more slowly than
expected, and simply focused on technical issues.
The officials said talks on the product trade agreement are more complicated
than negotiations on the service trade pact, as the product trade agreement
involves tariff reductions for more than 8,000 items. They added that the
government needs more time to communicate with local enterprises.
However, they said the government is maintaining its goal to complete the talks
on the product trade agreement by the end of this year.
Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research President Wu Chung-shu (吳中書) said
the service trade pact, still pending in the Legislative Yuan, is the equivalent
of a free-trade agreement, adding that the trade pact is expected to bring more
benefits than harm to Taiwan in the long run, although it could fail to produce
significant immediate effects in the short term.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) said he cannot
understand why the service trade agreement has not been well received in Taiwan,
adding that Beijing has shown good faith in opening its markets.
Zhang said he hopes the service trade agreement will be ratified by Taiwan’s
lawmakers and take effect as soon as possible so that Taiwan will be able to
seize the opportunity to gain easier access to the huge Chinese market.
Critics of the deal say there was a lack of transparency in its negotiation
process and expressed concerns that it would promote a “one China” market
because of the free flow of investment, personnel and products across the Taiwan
Strait. Operators of affected industries in Taiwan also lambasted the government
for not consulting with them in advance.
On July 31, publisher Rex How (郝明義) resigned as a national policy adviser to
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over the way the president had dealt with those who
oppose the agreement by saying they had deliberately fabricated rumors.
Ma was “derelict in his duty” because he did not take seriously criticism of the
agreement, which could deprive people of their property and livelihood, and
failed to conduct an assessment of the impact of the agreement on the nation’s
economy, society and security before it was signed, How said.
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