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Cabinet approves ECFA

ROC Central News Agency

2010/07/01 19:15:16

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Executive Yuan approved Thursday the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection agreement signed with China June 29 and forwarded them immediately to the Legislative Yuan for review.

Premier Wu Den-yih described the two agreements as having very deep potential to boost Taiwan's economic development and its upgrade status in Asia.

The ECFA, in particular, is the first step toward liberalizing cross-Taiwan Strait economic and trade activities, Wu said. The two sides will soon begin negotiations on other related agreements on investment and trade in goods and services, he said.

"The ECFA is a win-win achievement that benefits both sides of the Taiwan Strait and is a new milestone in cross-strait economic and trade relations," Wu said at a weekly Cabinet meeting.

According to the premier, the ECFA shows that the government has honored its promise of upholding the interests of Taiwan and its people and protecting the country's agricultural sector, conventional industries and small and medium-sized businesses.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs will earmark NT$95 billion over 10 years to provide assistance to weak industries that may be adversely affected by the ECFA, Wu said.

Under the ECFA's "early harvest" program, the tariffs on 539 Taiwanese goods and 267 Chinese products will be reduced to zero within two years after the pact takes effect.

While the government has hailed the pact as beneficial to Taiwan, there have been concerns that an influx of cheap Chinese products might lead to the closure of affected businesses and to job losses.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which is strongly against the ECFA on grounds that it will lead to the creation of a "one-China market" and undermine Taiwan's sovereign status, is demanding that the agreement be reviewed and approved clause by clause in the Legislative Yuan.

The DPP claimed that such a screening method is applicable to the ECFA because it is "not a treaty."

Commenting on the issue earlier Thursday, Wu argued that although the ECFA is "not a treaty, " it should be viewed as a treaty-type agreement that the Legislative Yuan would have no power to change unilaterally.

The legislature can either endorse or reject the agreement in its entirety, Wu said.

Legislative Yuan speaker Wang Jin-pyng said urgent consensus among the political parties is required in order to ensure the passage of the ECFA.

Wang said the ruling and opposition party caucuses are at odds over the process that should be used to review the ECFA, mainly because the agreement is "not a treaty" by definition.

While treaties refer to agreements signed between states, the relations between Taiwan and China are a kind of "special non-state-to-state ties," Wang noted.

Su Jun-pin, spokesman for the ruling Kuomintang, said his party believes that the ECFA should be processed the same way as a treaty.

If Taiwan sets a precedent of allowing its legislature unilaterally alter a trade agreement, no other country would want to sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with Taiwan, he said.

However, DPP spokesman Lin Yu-chang said legislative review of the substantive agreement with China is necessary in order to monitor the administrative branch.

According to Lin, a similar method was used to review the FTAs signed between Taiwan and its Central American allies. (By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM /pc