ECFA promises not delivered: DPP

DEMOCRACY AT RISK?The DPP said that cross-strait negotiations since the ECFA was signed have affected the economy and put the nation’s democracy at risk
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) has failed to bring promised prosperity for Taiwan and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration was irresponsible in hastily pushing through the pact, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday on the fourth anniversary of the signing of the cross-strait pact.

Dubbed by international media as a “landmark agreement” upon its signing on June 29, 2009, it was signed without an impact assessment or sector-by-sector analysis, and the negotiation process was not monitored by the legislature, DPP spokesperson Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said in a press release.

Protesters slam KMT over pact

STAYING PUT:Opponents of the cross-strait service trade agreement staged an impromptu sit-in in front of the legislature in Taipei and issued six demands
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Advocates and dozens of civic groups yesterday condemned the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus for sending the cross-strait service trade agreement to a plenary session without it being screened, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the KMT “have declared war on Taiwan’s democracy.”

In a joint meeting of eight legislative committees to review the controversial pact, yesterday’s agenda was put forth by the KMT caucus, leading the Democratic Progressive Party to criticize the ruling party for “forcing” a final vote on the agreement — one the KMT would be sure to win.

Trade pact review meeting cut short

NO POINTS OF ORDER:Lawmakers spent the time allotted to the service trade pact review meeting chanting slogans and verbally attacking each other
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The controversial cross-strait service trade agreement was sent to the Legislative Yuan’s plenary session yesterday without a single minute of deliberation in a joint committee review meeting that was marred by physical and verbal confrontations among pan-blue and pan-green camp lawmakers as both sides accused each other of lacking “democratic maturity.”

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers had occupied the meeting room’s podium since noon yesterday and prevented Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) from presiding over the meeting, which was called off after three hours without actually commencing.

Removing ECFA safeguards ‘devastating,’ legislator says

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration’s deletion of a safeguard chapter on Chinese imports could result in an influx of cheaper Chinese products to the domestic market, with devastating effects on local small businesses and the agricultural sector, a lawmaker said yesterday.

“[The deletion] brought me great distress and I found it unacceptable … The government had no reason to retreat from its current position,” Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Hsu Chung-shin (許忠信) said at a press conference, calling for a special relief mechanism to protect local businesses from the potentially damaging effects of cross-strait trade liberalization.

DPP wants bills before pact

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Three pieces of legislation must be passed and a complete list of meeting documents, the negotiators involved and categories to be liberalized must be disclosed before the Legislative Yuan begins its screening of the cross-strait service trade agreement, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers said yesterday.

“The entire process of the agreement — from the first day of negotiations to the day the pact’s contents were announced — has been opaque and undemocratic. The people of Taiwan have been unable to learn about and assess the potential impact of the deal on the economy and industrial development,” DPP lawmakers Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) told a press conference.

Renegotiate service trade pact: groups

RECIPROCITY?The pact will require Taiwan to open almost all its industries to Chinese investment, but China is not offering the same back, protesters said
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Representatives from civic groups, the manufacturing and retail industries and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday voiced their strong opposition to a proposed cross-strait service trade agreement on the sidelines of a public hearing at the legislature on the agreement’s impact on local businesses.

Ma criticized for rushing service pact

SLOW DOWN:A civic group and lawmakers spurned the president’s call to accelerate public hearings on the deal, saying that an issue that affects so many requires time
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Activists and legislators yesterday panned President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) call to speed up the public hearings being held on the cross-strait service trade agreement, saying that the government and the public should take their time examining the potential impact the pact may have on the nation.

Although Ma blamed the legislature for stalling the agreement’s passage by being slow in organizing the hearings, the slow pace of progress is due to government agencies’ reluctance to provide the information that needs to be discussed at the hearings, the Democratic Front Against Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement said in a press release.

President hails ASTEP Singapore free-trade deal

By Mo Yan-chih, Shelley Shan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday hailed the signing earlier in the day of the Agreement between Singapore and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Partnership (ASTEP), saying it carried great significance and would facilitate the nation’s participation in regional economic integration in the Asia-Pacific area.

“The ASTEP is a top-quality free-trade agreement with a non-ally nation. With the economic pacts with the Singapore and New Zealand as a foundation, we will speed up efforts to join economic integration in Asia-Pacific region. We won’t allow Taiwan’s absence from [regional integration],” he said.

Engineers see risk in trade pact

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese computer engineers would likely be hurt by the cross-strait service trade agreement due to the potential influx of cheaper Chinese workers, computer software representatives said yesterday.

“Young entry-level engineers are likely to be the first batch of victims of the pact because they could be replaced by cheaper, more experienced Chinese counterparts,” computer engineer Shen Chia-hung (沈佳弘) told a press conference organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).

Premier trades trade barbs

NOT ‘ECFA-TIVE’?DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi said that despite government promises, the signing of the ECFA had not led to more trade pacts with other countries
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) yesterday accused each other of distorting facts during a heated debate in the legislature about the impact of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and the proposed service trade agreement.

During a 30-minute question-and-answer session, Lee said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration had exaggerated the positive impact of the ECFA and had misinterpreted the meaning of free trade by “putting all the eggs in China’s basket.”

Quickly ratify service pact, former KMT officials urge

‘SECOND CUBA’:：Former SEF chairman Chiang Pin-kung said the nation could lose ground to South Korea as it pursues an FTA with China, risking economic isolation
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Mon, Oct 28, 2013 - Page 3

Taiwan will have to speed up the ratification process of the cross-strait service trade agreement and negotiations for a trade in goods pact with Beijing in the wake of aggressive talks between South Korea and China for a free-trade agreement (FTA), former government officials from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration said yesterday.

“South Korea would be ecstatic to see a prolonged stall of the service trade pact in the Legislative Yuan and a signing of the South Korea-China FTA before the cross-strait trade liberalization is completed,” former Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) told a press conference.

Trade pact a ‘Trojan horse’: Taiwan Society

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The cross-strait service trade agreement is part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “triangle policy” toward eventual unification with China and should not have been signed, a pro-independence advocacy group said yesterday.

“We believe that the agreement, along with the ‘one China’ principle, and a meeting between Ma and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), form a triangle policy of Ma’s goal of eventual unification,” former presidential advisor Huang Tien-ling (黃天麟) wrote in a booklet published by the Taiwan Society.

Legislature to tackle trade pact and referendum

By Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters
Tue, Jul 30, 2013 - Page 1

Despite protests inside and outside the legislature, lawmakers yesterday completed voting on the agenda for an extra legislative session starting today, which will include the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement and a proposed referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮).

Issues related to the alleged abuse and death of army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘) earlier this month will also be discussed at the extra session, the second of this summer’s recess and scheduled to run until Friday next week.

Civic groups plan week of protests

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Consecutive protests against the opaque signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement have been scheduled in Taipei, with a rally in front of the Presidential Office tonight launching the event-packed seven days of action.

The events, organized by various civic groups, are to be held simultaneously with the extra legislative session that begins on Tuesday next week to pressure lawmakers, who are set to screen the pact clause-by-clause and vote on the agreement’s implementation, and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

MAC slammed over press adverts

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

An advertisement placed in local newspapers yesterday by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to promote the recently inked cross-strait service trade agreement was “a bad example” of democracy in Taiwan, as the ministry had violated its function as a public policy communicator, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.

The MAC placed the advertisement, titled “10 growing strengths,” in a number of local newspapers, pledging that the service trade pact with China would bring benefits to service sub-sectors such as catering, retail, film, laundry, beauty, e-commerce, online gaming, banking, life insurance and futures trading.

Anti-service pact protests to be held this weekend

CROSS ABOUT PACT:：The back-to-back demonstrations both aim to underline what their organizers say are the agreement’s democractic violations and potential damage
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 - Page 3

Consecutive protests against the cross-strait service trade agreement are to be held by various civic groups this weekend to highlight what critics say are the pact’s violation of democratic principles and the potential harm it may cause to the local service sector.

More than a dozen groups, led by the Cross-Strait Agreement Watch Association, yesterday announced they planned to protest against the pact between 6pm and 10pm on Sunday in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, one day before the beginning of an extra legislative session during which the deal is to be reviewed and voted upon.

Civic groups to rally against ‘opacity’ of service trade pact

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Civic groups yesterday said they are planning to protest against the “opaque” cross-strait service trade agreement on July 27 to express their concerns about the negative impact the pact may have on people’s livelihoods.

The groups said the rally will be held on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office. The organizations involved include the Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP) and several pro-independence groups, including the Hakka Society, the Northern Taiwan Society, the Taiwan United Nations Alliance, the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign.

DPP against fast-tracking pact’s review

CAUCUS CONSENSUS:Ker Chien-ming said a thorough review of the agreement could take several months, while colleague Chen Chi-mai was critical of an assessment
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday reaffirmed its opposition to passing the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement in the second extra legislative session and warned the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against forcing the pact through the legislature.

The DPP opposes holding a second extra session, which is scheduled to begin on July 29, but the KMT’s legislative majority means it will be able to force the session, DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) told reporters after the meeting.

DPP debates possible worker influx

JOBS:Chang Feng-yi of the Taiwan Labor and Social Policy Research Association said at least 220,000 Chinese workers entered and stayed in Taiwan last year
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members and a labor affairs analyst debated yesterday the number of Chinese workers who might come to Taiwan after the recently signed service trade agreement between Taiwan and China takes effect.

The debate began with former DPP legislator Julian Kuo’s (郭正亮) commentary on Sunday, in which he warned the DPP against citing incorrect data to claim that the pact would cause an influx of as many as 360,000 Chinese migrant workers.

Service pact will bring more good than bad: MOEA

By Helen Ku  /  Staff reporter
Tue, Jul 16, 2013 - Page 1

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday released an official report on the impact the recently signed cross-strait service trade agreement could have on the nation’s economy, saying that the pact would yield limited macroeconomic benefits because of the low number of sectors that will be fully opened up.

The service trade agreement, inked on June 21 in Shanghai by the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits as part of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), is expected to raise Taiwan’s GDP by between 0.025 and 0.034 percentage points a year. It is also forecast to create up to 11,923 jobs, which would see employment rise by between 0.15 and 0.16 percent.