Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's cross-strait common market idea was questioned at a forum Monday, with participants arguing that the proposal would jeopardize Taiwan's labor and agricultural sectors and the future of the younger generation.
"The idea was proposed more than a dozen years ago, and it was questioned and blasted at the time, " said Chen Po-chih, an economist and chairman of Taiwan Thinktank.
"It is inappropriate that Ma's campaign has been exaggerating the benefits of the idea and masking the damage it could cause, " Chen said of Ma's push for closer economic ties with China.
Ma has stressed that a cross-strait common market would not be a "one-China" market but rather a move to develop Taiwan as a center of Asia-Pacific commerce.
He has also reassured local voters that he would not advance his policy at the cost of local jobs and vowed not to allow Chinese workers or products to overwhelm the local economy.
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) definition, however, a common market must be equipped with the full-scale free flow of labor, capital and products, which was in contradiction with Ma's proposal, Chen said.
Ruan Ming, a researcher at Taiwan Research Institute, said Ma had also ignored that common markets are generally negotiated between free and democratic countries with similar economic performances, which was not the case between Taiwan and China.
"It is not a common market if Chinese labor and products are prohibited from entering Taiwan's market, " Ruan said, adding that a cross-strait common market will hurt employment opportunities for Taiwan's young people.
Taiwan's agriculture was already one area that had not benefited from a more open market, said Chen Wen-te, director of the Council of Agriculture's Department of International Affairs.
Statistics show that since Taiwan and China entered the WTO in 2002, Taiwan's agricultural sales to China have not risen despite closer trade ties because of the high price of Taiwanese agriculture products, Chen said.
Quarantine issues, intellectual property rights and piracy were other important questions that would have to be dealt with, Chen added.
Labor organizations have always opposed the WTO framework and free trade agreements, which hurt domestic employment, said Son Yu-lian, secretary-general of the Taiwan Labor Front.
More than 70 percent of domestic workers are employed in the service industry, which is expected to suffer the most if a common market is implemented, Son said.
He stressed that domestic workers must be consulted before the implementation of major policy changes, such as direct flights and a common market.
Wu Rong-I, chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange, said the basic idea of a common market is "opening, not restriction" and requires negotiation between two sovereign nations.
"It seems ridiculous to me to negotiate a common market with an enemy state," Wu said.