Ratifying a pact with China is the first step to diversified trade.
Trucks transport containers at the port in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Updated Aug. 5, 2014 9:08 pm ET
Taiwan's leaders have warned for years that economic isolation will damage the nation's competitiveness. Now their worst fears may be coming true, and the consequences of resisting freer trade and economic reform are becoming clear.
Later this year China and South Korea plan to finalize a free-trade agreement that will give most South Korean products zero-tariff entry into the mainland. That's a problem for Taiwan because both countries count China as their largest trading partner, and their exporters compete head-to-head. Between 50% and 80% of Taiwan's exports—from petrochemicals to steel, textiles to machinery—overlap with South Korea's.
If the deal goes through as expected, roughly 2% to 5% of all of Taiwan's exports to China could be replaced by South Korean products, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Businesses with thin profit margins such as makers of flat panels and machinery are at risk of being priced out of the mainland market.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's latest trade pact with China signed last year sits in limbo after the student-led "sunflower movement" stymied its ratification by the legislature this spring. Protesters stoked anxieties that Taiwan is in danger of being swallowed up by China as its businesses become increasingly dependent on the mainland.
Trucks transport containers at the port in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Bloomberg News
It's certainly true that the two economies are deeply intertwined; 80% of Taiwan's foreign investment and 40% of its exports go to the mainland. However, placing obstacles in the way of trade and investment won't solve the problem.
Since China is an integral part of global supply chains, Taiwan only hurts itself if it preserves barriers to cross-Strait trade. Beijing has also signalled it will lobby against Taiwan's participation in multilateral pacts such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership if Taipei doesn't first liberalize with China. So the road to less reliance on China paradoxically runs through Beijing.
Taiwan has made some progress on bilateral trade. But pacts with Singapore and New Zealand over the past year, while welcome, govern less than $30 billion in annual two-way exchange. A South Korea-China FTA threatens up to $49 billion of Taiwan's exports, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Ratifying the cross-Strait services pact now in limbo would pave the way for a goods trade agreement. It would also show that Taipei has the ability to ratify and implement trade accords it has signed.
In the meantime, Taipei has started to liberalize the domestic economy in line with reforms required by TPP. That deal currently involves 12 nations and 40% of the world's output. Neither Taiwan nor South Korea currently participates in the negotiations, but both have expressed interest in joining.
Here, too, Seoul has the advantage, having already signed a free-trade agreement with the U.S. with an eye on many of the stringent TPP requirements. If Taiwan rewrites outdated regulations and rolls back restrictions on investment, it can promote domestic competitiveness and signal that Taipei is serious about joining the TPP.
But first Taiwan's lawmakers have a chance to use a special legislative session this week to pass a bill promised to protesters to monitor cross-Strait treaties, and then ratify the cross-Strait services trade pact. As trade barriers among Taiwan's neighbors fall, failing to do so will further isolate the island.
曾經擔任歐巴馬總統亞太助卿的坎伯（Kurt C. Campbell）已被拜登提名為「印太事務協調總監」。在民國 109 年(2020年)12月舉行的「美日台三國安全對話」視訊會議中，美方擔任會議主席的坎伯曾以台灣老朋友的身份力勸蔡英文至少要與對岸建立一個基本的對話溝通管道，以免兩岸發生不必要的誤會與誤判。
其次是姜教授顯然並不理解我國在該海域與各國在海上執法之合作關係；海巡署官方網頁，在海域執法項目下，有關公海巡護欄位中，明確指出我國依據「中西太平洋漁業委員會（WCPFC：Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission）」建立相互登臨檢查制度，海巡署每年定期派遣巡護船，執行2或3航次中西太平洋漁業巡護任務，每航次期程約70至90天，並在 WCPFC 組織架構下，與「庫克群島」、「澳洲」、「紐西蘭」、「美國」、「日本」及「法國」等6會員國進行相互登臨檢查，以善盡國際漁業管理責任及保護我國漁民作業安全。
