Presidential contenders bicker over how to deal with China economically

Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidates remained at odds over how best to manage Taiwan's trade and economic relationship with China during their second policy presentation forum on Tuesday.

The televised event saw the KMT presidential candidate and current New Taipei mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) laying the blame for strained cross-Taiwan Strait relations as well as Beijing's suspension of the imports of Taiwanese agricultural products on the DPP government.

It had been easy for Taiwanese farmers to sell their products in China after the signing of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010 between the then-KMT government in Taipei and Beijing, Hou said.

Over the past seven years, however, cross-strait relations have deteriorated with the DPP in office, leading to exports of several Taiwanese products, such as pineapples, custard apples, and groupers being suspended, Hou said.

He went on to say that the bans were caused by "a lack of communication [between the DPP government and Beijing] over quarantine issues."

If elected president, Hou said, "[I] will negotiate [with China] over ECFA issues on the basis of equality, dignity, and amiability," without elaborating.

China ceased importing Taiwanese pineapples in March 2021 and custard apples six months later, citing repeated discoveries of mealy bugs on the fruits as the main reason.

In June 2022, China stopped importing Taiwan-grown groupers for allegedly containing illicit chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline, making them the first product that enjoyed tariff reduction under the ECFA's "early harvest" list to be banned.

So far, Beijing has partially lifted the ban on those products, saying it had noticed some improvements on the part of Taiwanese farmers and fishermen, without providing details.

A Beijing official also said last Friday that China was willing to work towards resuming importing Taiwanese agricultural products that have been banned provided that the Taiwanese side "adheres to the '1992 nonsense' and opposes Taiwanese independence."

Such moves have prompted the DPP government to denounce Beijing for using agricultural products as political bargaining chips and for repeated violations of international trade rules.

DPP presidential nominee Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said at Tuesday's forum that the KMT always blames the DPP government for "provoking China" when Beijing launches coercive measures against Taiwan.

The DPP candidate and current vice president criticized the KMT as a "pro-communist" party and accused it of working in tandem with Beijing in an attempt to win the presidential election on Jan. 13, 2024.

He went on to say that the KMT should explain why Beijing announced the suspension of ECFA's tariff relief on the imports of 12 Taiwanese petrochemical products starting in 2024 on Dec. 15, when KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) was visiting China.

The KMT said Hsia was there to meet with Taiwanese businessmen and denied reports that he had planned to meet with senior officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The third contender in the presidential race, Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People's Party, spent most of his allotted time discussing his education policy and did not touch upon cross-strait economic tensions.

He did, nevertheless, propose to work to join the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is open for accession by any country or separate customs territory.

"[We] ought to courageously apply to join the RCEP" provided that "hedging mechanisms" are fully in place, Ko said, without elaborating.