Taipei, June 3 (CNA) The Philippines' representative office in Taiwan said it welcomed the reported plans for Taiwan and the Philippines to hold talks on a free trade agreement (FTA).
However, Taiwan officials have been cautious in their responses to the report on the sensitive issue.
A Philippines newspaper, the Business Mirror, on Monday quoted Philippines Trade Secretary Jesli A. Lapus as saying that officials from Manila and Taipei will start talks on a "mini-FTA" on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Sapporo, Japan this week.
"This is of course a welcome development from MECO's perspective, if it is correct, but as the (trade) secretary said, it is still at an exploratory stage," said Antonio Basilio, resident representative and managing director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei.
Meanwhile, Shih Yen-hsiang, who is leading the Taiwan delegation to the June 5-6 APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade, declined to comment directly on the report prior to his departure, saying only that the APEC meeting focuses on multilateral trade discussions rather than bilateral talks.
According to the newspaper report, Lapus said he will seek a meeting with his Chinese counterpart to ask about the contents of a prospective economic agreement between China and Taiwan and to seek Beijing's opinion on whether a full-blown trade deal would conflict with its "one-China policy." He said that Taiwan and the Philippines are working on a mini-FTA under the so-called Subic-Clark-Kaoshiung Economic Corridor Agreement.
Taiwan is hoping that the conclusion of the cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) will help boost its competitiveness in the global market and help pave the way for FTAs with other countries, without China's interference.
Taiwan is reportedly hoping to sign FTAs with Singapore and the Philippines after the ECFA is completed.
However, China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that Beijing is opposed to Taiwan signing free trade agreements (FTAs) with any country. In response, President Ma Ying-jeou said that Taiwan "is entitled to sign any trade deals with other WTO (World Trade Organization) members and this right cannot be interfered with for any reason." Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) deputy spokesman James Chang said Thursday that the ministry "had not received information about Taiwan negotiating (trade deals) with any specific country or countries, but we believe that the easing of cross-strait tensions will help create an atmosphere in which Taiwan can secure FTAs with other countries." (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc