Taiwan’s president said Tuesday that signing a partial free trade agreement with China will help strengthen regional peace at a time when Beijing refuses to rule out the possibility of annexing Taiwan by force.
Ma Ying-jeou’s statement has been trying to improve his country’s ties with China to strengthen Taiwan’s economy and reduce political tensions between the two longtime rivals since he took office in May 2008.
The partial free trade agreement, or the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, is the centerpiece of his China engagement program. Ma has said he hopes to close the trade deal by June, and the agreement will lower tariffs on Taiwan’s exports to China, and protect Taiwanese investment on the mainland.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Ma said he also envisioned the trade pact would help reduce tensions between Taiwan and China — which wants to unify with Taiwan using any possible means — by allowing them to pursue common interests while disagreeing on sensitive political issues.
“We shelve the differences and try to pursue a common ground so that we can make peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait,” Ma said. With the trade pact, “I am sure we will contribute more to regional peace.”
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing continues to claim the island as part of its territory, and is determined to bring Taiwan back into its fold — by force if necessary. Taiwan’s opposition claims China-friendly Ma is trying to push the island on the path of unification by signing the framework agreement with Beijing, a charge Ma denies.
On Tuesday, Ma said the China trade pact is a “purely economic agreement” that will not contain any political language.
Ma acknowledged Beijing’s reluctance to abandon its military threat against Taiwan is because it wants eventual unification, while most Taiwanese reject the notion. Taiwan officials have said Beijing now deploys more than 1,000 missiles targeted at the island.
“This is an economic arrangement and has nothing to do with either unification or independence,” Ma said.
Ma added the China deal will also offer Taiwan the possibilities of signing free trade agreements with other major trade partners, a move Beijing has strongly opposed, although he would not say which countries Taiwan might reach such a deal with in the near term.