Communication efforts to focus on SMEs, vulnerable individuals

TAIPEI: The government will step up communication with the public on the proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with the mainland in an effort to assuage misgivings about the trade pact, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan said yesterday.

Three categories of individuals will be targeted - those from southern Taiwan, those from low- and middle-income households, and owners of small- and medium-sized businesses, Lai said while briefing legislators on the progress of the ECFA talks with the mainland.

She said the MAC will send officials on campus visits to discuss the issue with students, using "the language of young people", and will also explain the policy to the public using clear, easy-to-understand language.

According to Lai, the Executive Yuan has arranged a series of briefing sessions on the ECFA issue for various legislative committees and will also report to the legislative speaker and the legislative caucuses of the various political parties.

"This is aimed at showing the executive branch's sincerity in communicating with the legislature and accepting its supervision. We hope the public will see our hard work," she said.

Lai said it remains the government's goal to have the deal sealed during the fifth round of talks between the leaders of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) slated to take place at some point in the first half of this year.

To pave the way for the signing of the agreement, the two sides held the first round of formal negotiations January 26 in Beijing. They discussed issues such as the title and basic structure of the agreement and the establishment of a consulting mechanism.

The two sides agreed that the pact will cover the liberalization of the trade of goods and services, rules of origin, an early harvest list, trade remedies and dispute arbitration, as well as investment and economic cooperation.

"Minister of Economic Affairs" Shih Yen-shiang said the date for the second round of talks has not been decided upon, but added that they will not take place before the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February.

According to Lin Hung-chih, a whip of the ruling Kuomintang's legislative caucus, between February and June, the MAC and the "Ministry of Economic Affairs" will deliver a total of 10 reports to the Legislative Yuan, including five to be given in joint committee meetings.

After the pact is signed, the document will be required to pass a legislative review before it can be put into force, Lin said.

The legislative caucus of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which did not attend yesterday's briefing, demanded that a cross-Straits affairs panel be set up under the Legislative Yuan to monitor the signing of the ECFA.

Lee Chun-yee, a DPP caucus whip, said his caucus did not receive an invitation from the MAC to attend the briefing, although it was invited by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng to take part as an "auditor."

"This was an insult to the DPP caucus, so it rejected the non-institutional, informal report that lacks any legal grounding," he said.

Unless the Executive Yuan submits its ECFA impact assessment report to the legislature, legislators will have no way to monitor the matter, he argued.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 02/04/2010 page2)