ECFA not an obligation-free boon for Taiwan

It's time for the Taiwan authorities to truly focus on the island's economy and residents' livelihood. A survey on consumer behavior trends among Taiwan residents, released by Mastercard on Wednesday, revealed that under inflationary pressures, 70 percent of the island residents will reduce the frequency of nonessential spending to save on expenses.

This year the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan entered its 14th year. The agreement, which is based on the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China and allows for mutual trust and negotiations on an equal footing to resolve economic issues, has been central to the accords facilitating cross-Taiwan Strait economic collaboration.

Starting from June 15, the mainland suspended zero-tariff benefits for 134 items on the Early Harvest List of ECFA.The island's association of machinery industry estimates that the annual export value of machinery and equipment from the island will decrease by over $100 million, leading to a 4 percent to 5 percent decline in its share of Chinese mainland market.

In the past 14 years, the trade volume between the two sides of the Strait has reached a staggering $3.07 trillion, with Taiwan enjoying a trade surplus of $1.65 trillion. This represents 76.1 percent of the total cross-Strait trade and 80 percent of the surplus since trade between the two sides of the Strait resumed in 1979. In particular, Taiwan has benefited from the tariff reduction plan under the ECFA framework, gaining NT$30 billion ($921.94 million) and supporting 260,000 jobs every year.

The ECFA's original aim was to foster comprehensive economic exchanges through a mutually beneficial cooperative mechanism, and promoting economic integration between the two sides of the Strait.

However, recent moves by Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which refuses to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus and advocates "Taiwan independence", have weakened the political foundation of the ECFA. In fact, the DPP's divisive rhetoric has prompted the mainland to suspend the tariff reduction arrangement for some ECFA items, though these measures do not target ordinary Taiwan residents.

Despite these challenges, Taiwan's influential industry groups, mainstream public representatives, and entrepreneurs' organizations on the mainland, such as the "Taiwan Federation of Industries", the "Third Wednesday Club", the "Taiwan Association for Cross-Strait Agricultural and Fishery Exchanges, Development and Investment", and the "Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland" have continued to visit the mainland.

While expressing concern over the ECFA and emphasizing that both sides of the Strait belong to one China, these representatives, enterprises and organizations have urged that cross-Strait dialogue and cooperation be resumed for the benefit of both sides.

As a matter of fact, in response to Taiwan residents' call for peace, development, economic exchanges and cooperation, the mainland has reaffirmed its stance, emphasizing that it welcomes more and more Taiwan compatriots to participate in cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation, and help realize national rejuvenation.

In fact, despite the drastic changes in cross-Strait relations, Beijing hopes to pursue peaceful cross-Strait development and deepen economic exchanges through the ECFA.

First, the two sides must work together to remove the obstacles preventing the improvement of cross-Strait ties. Since the DPP came to power on the island in 2016, normal cross-Strait economic cooperation has been disrupted by the DPP authorities. More importantly, by supporting Washington's divisive policies, which are aimed at destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region to maintain the United States' hegemony, the DPP has severely hindered cross-Strait collaboration in trade, investment and technology.

Also, the DPP administration has politicized economic exchanges in a bid to decouple the mainland and Taiwan economies. But since more than 60 percent of the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan is against souring ties with the mainland, Taiwan residents should compel the DPP to take measures to improve cross-Strait economic ties.

Second, cross-Strait negotiations, including normal economic and trade talks, should be resumed immediately so as to address emerging issues. Given the changing global economic landscape and deepening cross-Strait economic ties, the increasing flow of goods, capital, people and information calls for enhanced cooperation to expand the market, upgrade industry standards, better protect intellectual property rights, and conduct joint research and development.

These pressing issues require both sides to discuss how to facilitate the flow of elements and elevate economic cooperation to a higher level.

And third, the focus of both sides should be on deepening cooperation. Cross-Strait economic integration has entered a new phase, with both internal and external factors influencing the advancement of high-quality cooperation. Faced with emerging industries, networks, facilities and platforms on the mainland, along with the burgeoning demand for information consumption, the two sides of the Strait should jointly explore ways to deepen economic cooperation in a more optimized manner.

In other words, it is vital for all sectors to heed Taiwan residents' call for peace, development, and mutually beneficial economic cooperation. By balancing firmness and flexibility, the two sides can shape cross-Strait relations. For that, however, there is need to resolutely oppose "Taiwan independence", maintain peace, increase cross-Strait exchanges, and promote cooperation to drive some sense into the island's leaders, with the goal of restoring normal economic interactions.

The author is director of the Institute of Taiwan Economic Research, Nankai University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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