Taiwan Parliament Approves China Trade Deal
Taiwan’s Parliament passed a trade deal with China on Tuesday, the most significant agreement between the political foes of 60 years and one that binds Taiwan’s economy to the mainland while opening doors to other countries.
Legislators approved all but one piece of the economic cooperation framework agreement after a day of debate and protest, meaning the deal will become law on Jan. 1. Negotiators initially signed it in June.
The deal, which slashes tariffs on about 800 products, is considered a catalyst for similar agreements with other countries that could ease Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation, imposed by China, and raise its competitiveness as an export-dependent economy.
The government has said the deal will create 260,000 jobs, while one private forecast has predicted that the net effect will be a 5.3 percent improvement in Taiwan’s gross domestic product by 2020.
China sees the deal as part of its long-term plan to draw Taiwan under its rule, luring the island with economic sweeteners even as it continues a military buildup against a territory it has regarded as its own since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.
As part of that charm offensive, Beijing is unlikely to stop Taiwan from seeking deals with other trade partners to help its economy. China’s apparent blessing for an agreement with Singapore, Taiwan’s sixth-largest trading partner, is a strong first sign of agreements to come.
Approval of the trade pact, which came after a brawl last month in a divided Parliament, gives Taiwan negotiators a stronger mandate to return to the table with China for talks on further tariff reductions and other economic cooperation.
Opponents in Taiwan had feared that China wanted the trade pact to assert its claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled, democratic island of Taiwan by making the economies more interdependent.
Dozens of opponents protested Tuesday outside Parliament, with television showing some in their underwear, while opposition legislators yelled and displayed giant placards during the debate.
“People are clear this isn’t going to be good for Taiwan,” Chen Ming-wen, a legislator, told Parliament. “It’s going to steer our economy closer to China.”
Source: nytimes.com |
