Joint Letter to Speaker Wang on ECFA Eng/Chinese

Here is the text of the Joint Letter to Speaker of the Legislature Wang as discussed in the post below this one:

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The Honorable Wang Jin-pyng
Speaker of the Legislative Yuan
1 Chung-shan South Rd
TAIPEI,
TAIWAN 10040 May 14th 2010


Dear Mr. Speaker,

As strong supporters of a free and democratic Taiwan, we would like to call your attention to a number of concerns we have regarding the ongoing negotiations between the government of Taiwan and of the People’s Republic of China to arrive at an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

While in principle an economic agreement between the two countries would be laudable, it concerns us that there has been a lack of transparency and legislative checks and balances on the part of the government in Taiwan: Media and civic groups have complained about the secrecy of the negotiations, and the fact that there is no clarity on what the agreement would entail, or what impact it would have on Taiwan’s economy, in particular its agriculture, small and medium-size industries and the labor force.

Furthermore, the Legislative Yuan appears to be sidelined in the decision-making process, which does not bode well for the island’s young democracy. Against this background we urge you to emphasize that you attach great importance to checks and balances in a democratic system. It is also imperative that the Taiwan government seek a democratic consensus on this important decision through a public referendum of all people in Taiwan before the agreement is signed.

Many in Taiwan and abroad are also concerned about the impact of closer economic ties on Taiwan’s de facto independence and sovereignty: they feel that closer economic ties will give the government in Beijing leverage to push Taiwan into further political isolation. This would make it increasingly difficult for the people of Taiwan to maintain their freedom, basic human rights and democracy, and determine their own future. The problem is of course that China unjustifiably claims sovereignty over Taiwan, and doesn’t recognize its right to exist as a free, democratic and independent nation.

If Taiwan increasingly moves into the sphere of influence of a still very undemocratic China, this will have a negative impact on democracy and human rights in Taiwan itself, and on its role as a beacon for democracy in East Asia. We feel that the present approach by the Ma administration is too much predicated on China having a say in how Taiwan relates to the rest of the world. In our view, Taiwan should be accepted in its own right, and be able to sign free trade agreements with other nations without going through China.

We may also refer to recent statements by two of Taiwan’s strongest supporters in the US Congress, who are very critical of the proposed agreement: in a briefing on April 28th 2010, Congressman Robert Andrews (D-NJ) referred to it as a “cage” for Taiwan from where it will be difficult to escape, while Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) referred to it as a “Trojan Horse,” one gift-horse Taiwan should not allow in, because the authorities in Beijing are using it as a political tool with the ultimate goal of absorbing Taiwan.

Mr. Speaker, we hope you will agree with us that maintaining a free and democratic Taiwan is essential, not only for the people in Taiwan themselves, but also for the cause of freedom and democracy in East Asia as a whole. We thus urge you to take a critical look at the proposed Agreement, and ensure that the economic, political and strategic interests of the Taiwanese people are fully safeguarded.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely yours,

[signatories listed at bottom of this post]

立法院院長王金平先生
台灣台北市中山南路一號 (10040) 05-14-2010

王院長鈞鑒：

因為我們是自由與民主台灣的強力支持者，我們非常關心台灣政府與中華人民共和國政府正在談判的經濟合作架構協議​(ECFA)。我們希望您能關注這個協議所產生的一些疑慮。

雖然在原則上，兩個國家間的經濟協議是值得讚許的；我們關心的是此協議談判過程缺乏透明度，而台灣的立法院也無法發揮制衡的力量。這種秘密的談判方式引起媒體和民間團體的不滿，他們抱怨台灣政府對於此協議的內容和將會涉及的層面，和對台灣經濟的影響完全沒有交代清楚，特別是對農業，小型和中等規模的產業和勞動階層的影響都語焉不詳。

此外，立法院在此決策過程當中似乎是被排除在外，這對台灣的民主制度並不是一個好兆頭。在此我們敦促您重視民主國家制衡制度的重要性。更重要的是台灣政府在協議簽署前應舉辨公民投票以尋求全民共識。

在台灣和海外有很多人關心台灣與中國更緊密的經貿關係會影響台灣事實的獨立和主權: 他們認為這更緊密的經貿關係，將給予北京政府更大的影響力，進一步在政治上孤立台灣。這將使得台灣人民愈來愈難維護他們的自由民主，基本人權以及決定自己前途的權利。台灣的難題是歸因於中國對台灣主權無理的要求，而且不承認自由﹐民主和獨立台灣的生存權利。

如果台灣日益進入強權中國的勢力範圍，這對台灣的民主和人權， 以及它作為東亞民主燈塔的角色將有負面的影響。我們認為馬政府目前治國的方法，處處聽命於中國尤其是有關台灣的國際關係。我們認為台灣有權利與其他國家簽署自由貿易協定，不必透過中國。

我們也可以參考最近在美國國會兩位台灣最強大支持者的聲明，他們對此協定也多有批評: 在 2010 年 4 月28 日的簡報中，眾議員 Robert Andrew (民主黨-紐澤西州) 將此協議比喻成一個台灣將難以逃脫的 "鳥籠"， 而國會議員 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (共和黨-佛羅裡達州) 則提到它將成為"木馬屠城" 的工具, 台灣絕對不能讓它進來﹐因為北京當局利用它當政治手段，而起最終目的是要併吞台灣。

院長先生﹐我們希望您會同意我們的看法﹐也就是維護台灣民主自由的迫切重要性﹐不只是針對台灣而言，它也牽連到東亞整體上的自由民主。因此我們敦促您嚴格謹慎審查此協議的條文，以充份保障台灣人民的經濟，政治和戰略利益。

我們期待您的回應。

敬祝

順頌 鈞安

2010年五月十四日



1. Ambassador Nat Bellocchi, former Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan
2. Coen Blaauw, Formosan Association for Public Affairs, Washington DC
3. Gordon G. Chang, author, "The Coming Collapse of China"
4. Peter Chow, Professor of Economics, City College of New York
5. Stéphane Corcuff, Associate Professor of Political Science, China and Taiwan Studies, University of Lyon, France
6. Michael Danielsen, Chairman, Taiwan Corner, Copenhagen, Denmark
7. June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami, Florida
8. Norman W. Getsinger, U.S. Foreign Service (Retired), The George Washington University Graduate Program, Washington DC
9. Terri Giles, Executive Director, Formosa Foundation, Los Angeles
10. Michael Rand Hoare, Emeritus Reader at the University of London, Great Britain
11. Thomas G. Hughes, Former chief of staff to the late Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI), Washington DC
12. Richard C. Kagan, Professor Emeritus of History, Hamline University, St. Paul Minnesota. Author, “Taiwan’s Statesman, Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia”
13. Jerome F. Keating, Associate Professor, National Taipei University (Ret.). Author, "Island in the Stream, a quick case study of Taiwan's complex history" and other works on Taiwan’s history
14. Hon. David Kilgour, former Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific (2002-2003), Canada
15. André Laliberté, Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada
16. Daniel Lynch, Associate Professor, School of International Relations, University of Southern California
17. Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania
18. Donald Rodgers, Associate Professor of Political Science, Austin College, Texas
19. Terence C. Russell, Associate Professor of Chinese, Asian Studies Centre, University of Manitoba, Canada
20. Christian Schafferer, Associate Professor, Department of International Trade, Overseas Chinese Institute; Chair Austrian Association of East Asian Studies, Editor Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia, Vienna, Austria
21. Michael Stainton, York Center for Asia Research, Toronto, Canada
22. Peter Tague, Professor of Law, Georgetown University, Washington DC
23. John J. Tkacik Jr., former Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and former officer at the Taiwan Coordination Desk, Department of State, Washington DC
24. Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
25. Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond, Virginia
26. Gerrit van der Wees, Editor Taiwan Communiqué, Washington DC
27. Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics, and Visiting Scholar, George Washington University
28. Stephen Yates, President of DC Asia Advisory and former Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs

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