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Taiwan's negotiator says Taiwan wants bigger role in region

ROC Central News Agency

2010/08/02 20:34:17
Taipei, Aug. 2 (CNA) Taiwan's top negotiator with China reiterated at a seminar on Monday the country's desire to take part in the economic integration of the region, but a Chinese official taking part in the forum did not respond to the plea.

Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, which is in charge of Taiwan's dealings with China, said the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) recently signed with China provides it an opportunity to compete with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in China on an equal footing.

Chiang said, however, that more needs to be done because the region is integrating economically, with China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand, trying to form a regional trade bloc with ASEAN.

"Rather than being excluded from the process, Taiwan would like to take part in it and beat Japan and South Korea to the punch, " Chiang said.

An active role for Taiwan in the region would preserve the dynamism of its economy and strengthen its confidence in cooperating more closely on trade with China, to the benefit of both sides, Chiang said.

He contended that such cooperation will lay a solid foundation for the peaceful development between Taiwan and China.

Zhang Mingqing, the vice president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the head of China's delegation to the seminar, did not respond to Chiang's appeal.

Instead, he lauded the conclusion of the ECFA in his speech, calling it a milestone in ties between Beijing and Taipei that will set a new stage for bilateral relations.

The trade pact, clinched on June 29, is a preliminary form of free trade pact and an attempt by the two sides to institutionalize their trade relations.

Taiwan hopes the pact will help it negotiate similar trade pacts with other states, but Beijing has been reluctant to see it sign pacts with other states fearing they would give international legitimacy to Taiwan's push to be recognized as a sovereign state.

The annual seminar on China's modernization, which opened here on Monday, was jointly staged by ARATS and the private Academic Foundation for Advancing Chinese Modernization in Taipei.

More than 40 scholars from Taiwan and China are attending this year's seminar. (By Charles Kang and Maubo Chang) enditem/ls