Du Zichen, former director of the Taiwan Economic Research Institute and professor of the Chinese University, said in an interview with the Hong Kong China Review News Agency that CPTPP is a high-intensity trade agreement, not only relevant tax requirements, but also involves the

Source: Huaxia Jingwei.com

Du Zichen

Ma Ying-jeou called on the Tsai administration to negotiate the service trade of ECFA first, so that Taiwan will join CPTPP. Du Zichen, former director of the Taiwan Economic Research Institute and professor of , , of the , of the , said in an interview with the Hong Kong China Review News Agency that CPTPP is a high-intensity trade agreement, not only relevant tax requirements, but also involves the opening of the service industry. In the past, the DPP opposed cross-strait service trade and claimed that it would have an impact on Taiwan's economy, but if even cross-strait service trade cannot bear it, let alone joining CPTPP. Ma Ying-jeou's statement clearly shows that the Tsai administration has not made sufficient preparations for applying to CPTPP.

Du Zichen, bachelor's degree in Management Science, Taiwan Jiaotong University and master's degree in Management Science, Tamkang University. He has served as director of the Market Intelligence Center of the Zi Ce Association, general manager of the Third Wave Information, chairman of Bafeng Technology, general manager of Acer Computer Software Business Group, director of the Industrial and Economic Trend Center of the Industrial Research Institute, deputy director of the Institute of Business Development, director of the Competitiveness Research Center of the Institute of Industry and Research Institute, and chairman of the Taiwan Asia-Pacific Industrial Analysis Association.

Ma Ying-jeou, in response to the application of both sides of the Taiwan Strait to join the "Comprehensive Progress Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnerships" (CPTPP), called on the Tsai administration to use this opportunity to seek opportunities for cross-strait reconciliation. He suggested that Tsai Ing-wen quickly review the service trade agreement in the " Cross-Strait Agreement Supervision Regulations " (ECFA) through the " Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement " (ECFA), demonstrating its determination to liberalize and openness, and is conducive to joining the CPTPP.

Du Zichen said that although CPTPP has no positive correlation with ECFA, because CPTPP is a high-intensity trade agreement, its requirements for the degree of openness are second only to EU , and higher than all the economic agreements between the two or multiple parties that Taiwan has contacted. That is, in addition to tariffs, there are relatively high requirements for the opening up of the service industry and financial investment in CPTPP. He believes that Ma Ying-jeou's statement means that if Taiwan cannot even pass the cross-strait service trade agreement, the CPTPP may be more difficult. Is Taiwan ready?

Du Zichen pointed out that if the DPP authorities cannot open the service trade to ECFA, and claim that cross-strait service trade may affect local employment in Taiwan, but in the future, it will be opened to the service industry of at least 11 CPTPP members, which is very ridiculous. Therefore, if Taiwan can train in the cross-strait service trade first, it will not only meet the needs of subsequent joining the CPTPP, but also help increase mutual trust between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and improve the chance of Taiwan's successful membership.

Du Zichen believes that otherwise, the current cross-strait relations are severe. In addition to the fact that Taiwan’s own economic and trade conditions must meet the requirements of CPTPP, the reality of international politics is also a major challenge.

Du Zichen pointed out that Japan has never been the key to Taiwan's accession to CPTPP. Even if Taiwan opens the import of food in Japan's nuclear-hit areas, it would be useless for Japan to agree to the participation of Taiwan, because it still needs to open up agricultural products from other countries. Therefore, the Tsai administration interprets imported nuclear food and lai pigs as important cornerstones for Taiwan's accession to the CPTPP, and this argument is completely distorted. The real difficulty is that dumping agricultural products from other countries is a major challenge to Taiwan's agricultural trade. In addition, Taiwan's local traditional industries will also have an impact. He personally thinks that the machinery and automobile industries will be severely impacted.

For example, Japan and South Korea have a large scale of automobile manufacturing in Southeast Asia. He said that if Taiwan successfully enters CPTPP, facing the exemption of duty-free imports from Japan and South Korea's automobile industries in Taiwan, Taiwan's remaining automakers such as Yulon and Hetai, which are now producing for Japan, may not be able to hold on.

To sum up, the Tsai administration has insufficient pre-working application for joining CPTPP, and the internal economic impact assessment has not been fully exposed. Taiwan’s small and medium-sized enterprises are completely unaware of the pros and cons of Taiwan’s economic development and the pros and cons of trade promotion. Is Taiwan really ready? He believes it is up to be discussed.