Taipei, April 23 (CNA) Scholars debated the possible benefits and disadvantages of a proposed cross-Taiwan Strait trade agreement at a seminar Friday in a possible preview of Sunday's showdown on the issue between President Ma Ying-jeou and the head of the main opposition party.
The seminar gathered university professors and researchers who both support and oppose the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China, which Ma said he hopes to sign in June to prevent Taiwan from being economically marginalized in the region.
The 150-minute debate appeared to be a warm-up before Ma and opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen meet in a much-anticipated nationally televised debate on the ECFA.
If Taiwan does not take advantage of the China market, the world's biggest market, it will be hard to make up for the "lost decade, " said Daniel Liu, a senior researcher at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER).
He was referring to the period between 2000-2010 during which Taiwan failed to participate in Asian economic integration, especially in East Asia.
Liu, who supports the trade pact, addressed at length objections raised by the opposition to the deal, such as the possible influx of cheap Chinese labor, its negative impact on agriculture and the pact's potential triggering of lower wages in Taiwan based on factor-price equalization theory.
The ECFA will be able to improve stability across the strait and be the starting point of the institutionalization of cross-strait relations, he said, arguing that the agreement "may not be the only way, but it will be an effective way to improve Taiwan's economy." Wang To-far, a professor of economics at National Taipei University who opposes the ECFA, described it as China's first step toward enticing Taiwan to move toward an eventual "one-China market" and economic integration before reaching its ultimate goal of political integration.
Wang argued that the government had exaggerated the benefits of the deal without mentioning its possible adverse impact on employment and specific sectors, and voiced concerns that the excessive reliance of Taiwan's investment and exports on China's market would compromise the country's "economic sovereignty" in the future.
Lin Chu-chia, a professor of economics at National Chengchi University, was more concerned, however, about the political tone of the arguments on the issue.
"It seems to me that most people who support the agreement support it for economic reasons, and people who are against the pact oppose it for political reasons, " he said.
"As an economist, I think we have to be rational and we have a responsibility to tell the people what they're facing, " Lin said. "Unfortunately, the discussion of this important agreement hasn't been rational in Taiwan." (By Chris Wang) enditem/ls