Welcome counterfeiters and smugglers! ECFA is in the house! Media organs began reporting last night that negotiators for the CCP and the KMT had reached agreement on 200 items from China to Taiwan, and 500 from Taiwan to China. Bloomberg reports:China and Taiwan said they reached a basic agreement on tariff reductions in a third round of talks to boost economic and trade relations.The report is entirely one-sided, but it does note that:“We are still working on details, but the basic agreement has been reached,” Tang Wei, head of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau affairs at China’s Ministry of Commerce, said late yesterday after talks in Beijing with Huang Chih-peng, director- general of Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade.
An agreement would lower tariffs on more than 200 items exported from China to Taiwan including car parts, petrochemicals and machinery, the officials said. The exact items have yet to be decided, and Tang said he hoped that Taiwan would export textiles and car parts to China. An accord would allow service providers to compete in the two markets, he said.
Any accord “will boost market sentiment and confidence,” Tony Phoo, an economist at Standard Chartered Plc, said by phone in Taipei yesterday. Still, “the preferred-tariff treatment won’t happen at least for the next one to two years.”One to two years? Just like the financial agreements, the effects are in the future.
Kyodo, and this report above, also hint that the agreement is about having an agreement -- yesterday Kyodo said that negotiations remain to "confirm" the list. As AFP reports, negotiations had stalled. Further, the "early harvest" list had been dropped entirely. It looks like they agreed to simply announce an agreement, so the KMT wouldn't lose face, and then hammer out the details over time. Taiwan News reported:
KMT officials had flown over to make one last desperate bid this weekend for an agreement after the early harvest negotiations collapsed. Looks like they succeeded in reviving an agreement. Or at least the appearance of one.The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou wants to sign the accord before the end of June, but Premier Wu Den-yih for the first time threw doubt on that timetable Saturday when he said the negotiations were stuck in differences over the early harvest list.
Taiwan’s chief negotiator, Huang Chih-peng, said at the start of the talks Sunday that both sides had largely agreed on the text of the ECFA and on the basic principles for the early harvest list. Taiwan and China had also largely agreed on other items such as measures to solve trade disputes, he said.
Huang is the director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs. His counterpart at Sunday’s talks was Tang Wei, the head of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwanese affairs at China’s Commerce Ministry.
During the morning, negotiators discussed the wording of the accord itself, according to statements made to the media during the lunch break.
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
My concern has been the extent to which Chinese can invest on the island. What can they purchase, joint venture in, etc?
ReplyDeleteMy fear has been allowing Chinese to purchase housing, apartment buildings, etc.
If you feel that real estate is expensive and/or rents are high now ... that your landlord is unreasonable or your building maintenance leaves a little to be desired ... you ain't seen nothing yet.
When an unsophisticated Chinese factory owner from Wenzhou can pay RMB45,000 per sq m. for apartments in Shanghai and own not just one but 6- 185 sq.m. units, buying up real estate in Taichung is a piece of pineapple cake.
Then let the colonization begin.
Sage, that is apparently very quietly happening. I am still gathering entirely anecdotal data.
ReplyDeleteIt is happening and it is intruding into some spheres that are making Taiwanese elites uncomfortable.
ReplyDeleteSo the news isn't really news. If I read between the lines, both sides have announced that there is an agreement, and that there is a list. Whether either side agrees on the details seems to be irrelevant at this point.
ReplyDelete(Tony Phoo of StandChart) Still, “the preferred-tariff treatment won’t happen at least for the next one to two years.”
ReplyDeleteShow me the money, guys! Talk is cheap!
"Taiwan’s chief negotiator, Huang Chih-peng, said at the start of the talks Sunday that both sides had largely agreed on the text of the ECFA and on the basic principles for the early harvest list. Taiwan and China had also largely agreed on other items such as measures to solve trade disputes, he said."
Sounds like a lot of arm-waving to me! Give me some substance, Huang! Show me the money, Huang!
“We are still working on details, but the basic agreement has been reached,” Tang Wei, head of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau affairs at China’s Ministry of Commerce, said late yesterday after talks in Beijing with Huang Chih-peng, director- general of Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade.
Come on, Tang! The devil is in the details.
Besides sounding like a Shakespearean comedy, say, "Much Ado About Nothing", it is hard for me to figure out what is really going on here! It could be that this latest session was a major-league PR repair session? Nonetheless, I am going to sit back and see how all of this pans out.
At least the KMT-CCP love affair has provided some great sound bites and terrific photo-ops! Note to myself: Hey, Jerry, your cynicism and sarcasm is showing through! :D
Once it is understood that ROC is but an administering creature of SFTP under the MAIN OCCUPYING POWER (USMG)'s thumb, the Chinese on both banks of the Taiwan straight can plot all they want, it will come to naught, unless.... unless it dovetails with US interests. Period!!
ReplyDelete"jerome in vals said... Once it is understood that ROC is but an administering creature of SFTP under the MAIN OCCUPYING POWER (USMG)'s thumb …”
ReplyDeleteSorry, Jerome, I am not blessed with your omniscience and wisdom! Would you mind explaining what the SF Peace Treaty and US Military Government have to do with this discussion? Is this an extension of the lawsuit(s) filed by Roger Lin and Dick Hartzell and Taiwanese sovereignty? And lest I forget, Falun Gong (FLG)?
The US is certainly a player here. Jerome, you wrote, "unless it dovetails with US interests". I think that is an oversimplification and reductionist. Other players include the Taiwanese, Chinese, East Asians, Europeans, the serious degradation of the ecosystems, global warming, pollution, Mother Nature and other forces too vast to name. Life is complex and messy! And "control" is a major-league delusion!
So, if you would flesh out your comment, I would be most appreciative. Thanks.
I'd like to know, in ECFA, is there also a negotiation about "quota"?
ReplyDelete