Agencies explain why 'fears' voiced by DPP are unfounded

TAIPEI: Government agencies started a campaign Wednesday to allay major public concerns over three new accords signed between Taiwan and the mainland the previous day amid mass protests by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and civic groups.

In their fourth round of talks, the representatives of the mainland and Taiwan signed three agreements Tuesday on fisheries workers cooperation, agricultural quarantine inspection and industrial product standards certification.

In response to the fears expressed by the DPP that the agreements will result in job losses and a compromise of Taiwan's "sovereignty", the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said that since Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou assumed office in 2008, the government has been firmly safeguarding the interests of local industries and the Taiwan public.

Regarding the fisheries cooperation pact, the Council of Agriculture's (COA) Fisheries Agency said it will maintain the current restrictions on the importation of specific species of fish from the mainland, in order to protect Taiwan's fish farming sector.

Commenting on the 144 percent increase in the sale of mainland catch on the Taiwan market this year from 2008, the Fishery Agency said this was due to the Taiwan authorities's efforts, including its effective crackdown on smuggling and its stipulation that Taiwanese fishing boats must be equipped with monitoring systems.

These measures have helped reduce the smuggling of fish catches across the Straits and have led to normal trade between the two sides, the agency said.

In the area of quarantine inspection of agricultural products, the COA reiterated that the agreement has nothing to do with opening the Taiwan market to mainland produce. The pact is aimed at ensuring that Taiwan's fruit and vegetables clear mainland customs more quickly and ensuring more transparent information on chemical residues on both sides, the COA said.

The Bureau of Standards, Meteorology and Inspection under the "Ministry of Economic Affairs" (MOEA), meanwhile, said the industrial product standards certification agreement will allow Taiwan industries to find a footing in the mainland market in the short term and to access the global market in the long term.

According to the bureau, the vast mainland market will serve as a stepping stone for goods manufactured under Taiwan-mainland joint ventures to go international and to obtain global standards recognition. This will save Taiwan enterprises from having to pay high royalties to US or European companies, it added.

The DPP's claim of a "one-China market" is a far-fetched theory, it added.

The three agreements were signed by Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taiwan Straits Exchange Foundation, and his mainland counterpart, Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, in Taichung City, central Taiwan.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/25/2009 page2)