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Taiwan-China trade talks under way amid protests
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN,Associated Press Writer -
Wednesday, December 23
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Chen Yunlin, left, chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, raises a toast with chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation Chiang Pin-kung, during dinner on the first day of cross strait negotiations in Taichung, central Taiwan, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
TAICHUNG, Taiwan – Negotiators from China and Taiwan met for a fourth round of trade talks Tuesday amid protests from critics who fear the Taiwanese government's China-friendly policies are opening the door to eventual unification with the mainland.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party blasted President Ma Ying-jeou for negotiating with China in a way that flouts "democratic rules."
Top officials plan to sign a trio of minor agreements later in the day and discuss a free-trade deal that has fired up Tsai and other critics of Ma's push to link the export-dependant island's economy ever closer to China's.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the hotel in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung where the meetings are taking place, held off by a strong police presence determined to prevent a reoccurrence of the violence that marred a previous meeting in the Taiwanese capital Taipei one year ago.
In her comments to the AP, Tsai honed in on Ma's unwillingness to keep Taiwanese fully informed of the free-trade deal negotiations, saying openness was important because the proposed deal would "change Taiwan politically, economically, as well as socially."
"The people here did not give the president a blank check," Tsai said. "He has to conduct business according to democratic rules here. Rule number one is of course transparency."
Little is known about the proposed free-trade deal _ formally known as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement or ECFA _ except that it would reduce restrictions on trade between the two sides, save for some Chinese agricultural and labor exports.
In their opening statements Tuesday, the negotiators from the sides dwelt on the benefits of closer cooperation for each.
"Peaceful development between the two sides is the overwhelming trend. No one can stand in its way," Chinese delegation leader Chen Yunlin said.
Since taking office in May 2008, Harvard-educated Ma has eased tensions across the 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer-wide) Taiwan Strait to their lowest level in 60 years, turning his back on predecessor Chen Shui-Bian's pro-independence policies.
He has pushed a welter of business-boosting initiatives, including regular air and sea links with the mainland and ending across-the-board restrictions on Chinese investment in Taiwan.
While most Taiwanese back closer economic ties with China, a dip in Ma's popularity in recent months has hurt public backing for his pro-China policy.
Many in the DPP believe Ma's China-friendly push is setting the stage for an eventual Chinese takeover of the island, which the president vehemently denies. China has made unifying with Taiwan _ by force if need be _ the core of its Taiwan approach since the sides split amid civil war in 1949.
The DPP says ECFA will flood the island with cheap Chinese products, prompting massive job losses.
Ma rejects that assertion, saying the trade deal is necessary to prevent Taiwan's economic marginalization amid growing commercial ties between Beijing and neighboring Asian countries.
Washington strongly supports Ma's approach. Despite withdrawing its formal diplomatic recognition of China from the Taipei government and shifting it to Beijing in 1979, it remains the most important foreign partner of democratic Taiwan. However, it fears being drawn into any armed conflict that Beijing threatens in response to moves to formalize Taiwan's de facto independence, and it sees Ma's policies as strongly reducing that possibility.
Ma has said repeatedly that unification is not on the cards during his presidency _ if he's re-elected, his term would last until 2016 _ and most Taiwanese take him at his word. But some in his party favor union with the mainland, so many in the opposition fear that steps toward that end could still be taken while he is in office.
Despite the protests, Ma's push for a partial free trade agreement with Beijing is still on track to be signed in the spring of 2010. His Nationalist Party enjoys a substantial majority in the legislature, allowing him to implement virtually any deal he wants.
Speaking ahead of Chen on Tuesday, Taiwanese negotiator Chiang Pin-kung said Taiwan still hoped for more direct flights between the sides and an increase in numbers of mainland tourists visiting the island, which have fallen far short of expectations.
He said an agreement on avoiding dual taxation that the sides had planned to sign at the talks was being postponed to allow more time to hammer out technical issues.
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