President Ma Ying-jeou says delaying the approval of trade pact with China will hurt Taiwan’s economy.
Ma made the comments on Friday while receiving US State Department official Kurt Tong. The president said Taiwan signed a trade in services agreement with China about one and a half years ago, but the opposition party has been boycotting a vote on the pact in the legislature.
Ma said the recently concluded free trade agreement between China and South Korea covers both trade in services and trade in goods. He said the new agreement has surpassed the scope of Taiwan’s pact with China.
Ma said Taiwan has been hoping to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). He said Taiwan’s delay in approving its trade in services agreement with China will make it difficult for Taiwan to join these two trade agreements.
"When other countries see this, they must be thinking that if we don’t honor pacts with our biggest trading partner, why should they sign an agreement with us? This will have a huge impact on us," said Ma.
Ma said the conclusion of the China-Korea free trade agreement makes it even more urgent for Taiwan to participate in regional economic integration. He said the world will not wait for Taiwan if Taiwan gives the impression that it does not really care about what is going on in the world.