Another in the continuing run of ECFA successes

Lost a toy on the roof...

ECFA struck again in March, delivering massive gains in exports to China. Hahaha, no, slowly declining trade with China. Of course! ECFA missed the golden age, which was during the Chen years, and now as China upgrades manufacturing technology, it is starting to render Taiwan producers either irrelevant or vulnerable.

Exports to Southeast Asia—Taiwan's second-largest overseas market after China and accounting for about a fifth of all exports—gained 5.7% after a 4.8% growth in February.

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However, China stood out as a weak spot. Last month, Taiwan's exports to China fell 3.7% from a year earlier, after a 11.3% increase in February. It was largely due to China's increasing reliance on locally-produced raw materials and components, Taiwan's government said Monday. Taiwanese TV panels, once a major export to China, are also losing out to the Chinese who have more advanced technology, the government added.

The real area of gain for Taiwan is South and Southeast Asia, and that's where the national effort should be focused. The long-term trend for China isn't good. And if Taiwan could fix its South China Sea policy, it might have an advantage over China. But the current administration....

As for the yammering punditocracy that argues for the inevitability of China's annexation of Taiwan via trade, perhaps the trend here might have an effect. But I'm not holding out any hope.....

Anyone who looks at the promises from ECFA will see the same ones as for the services pact....
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Daily Links:

• Yale says Taiwanese student is too thin, must have eating disorder, wants to expel her (vid). Ethnocentrism and sexism brew up a toxic mental health assault on Ms. Chan. All those fat Yale administrators probably motivated by jealousy....
• J Michael: End of an era in cross-strait relations
• Joel Atkinson with a good review of the Sunflowers.
• Taiwan must move into Software (AsianScientist)
• Former US Congressional staffer Dennis Halpin goes full on pro-KMT in the Weekly Standard. You can see how bad the right-wing Chinese case is for the services pact when all its defenders merely repeat the government line -- there is nothing outside that which can be said....

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