Taiwan Students Occupy Legislature Over China Pact

Srinivas_K

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Taiwan Students Occupy Legislature Over China Pact

Thousands of students protested in and around the legislature in Taipei against ruling party tactics designed to push a trade deal with China through Taiwan's legislature.

About 2,250 people, most of them students, have joined the demonstration, according to National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun, and 2,000 police officers have been deployed to the site. Four people have been arrested and 38 police officers have been injured, Wang said.

President Ma Ying-jeou should apologize for the heavy-handed tactics his party has used to circumvent a detailed review of a trade deal with China, Lin Yu-hsuan, one of the student protesters, said by phone from inside the chamber today.

"We think what he did just harmed the democracy of Taiwan, so he needs to explain to everybody and apologize," said Lin, who was part of a group that stormed the building at around 9 p.m. last night.

Lawmakers from Taiwan's political parties had agreed in June to review each provision of a trade deal signed with China. The services agreement, which follows 2010's Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement negotiated between China and Taiwan, would open up as many as 80 industries including banking, brokerages, and e-commerce to business across the Taiwan Strait.

Declared Passed

Trade groups representing beauticians and traditional medicine retailers, among other affected industries, expressed opposition in the months following the signing, saying they weren't properly informed or supported by the administration in light of impending competition from Chinese business.

After two consecutive days of fights and scuffling with opposition lawmakers last week, Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang party, led by Ma, declared on March 17 the pact had passed the required reviews. The KMT, as the party is known, holds a majority of seats in the legislature.

Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party said in a statement the ruling party had reneged on the agreement for a detailed review and wouldn't accept the result. Students, including Lin, believe the Kuomintang should retract any attempts to force the trade deal into law.

Climbed Barricades

Students from the western Taiwan cities of Taichung and Kaohsiung climbed barricades to get onto the legislative floor, joining about 400 others who vow to hold the site for 120 hours, according to Lin. Attempts by police to enter the chamber and repel students in the early hours of this morning failed, with the situation remaining mostly peaceful during today, she said.

China's Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors, or RQFII, program quota for Taiwan is pending the pact's approval, central bank Governor Perng Fai-nan said March 6. A planned $670 million investment by China's biggest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., to take a 20 percent stake in Taiwan's Bank Sinopac is also pending passage of the trade agreement.

The legislature's Vice President, ruling party lawmaker Hung Hsiu-chu, said by phone the trade agreement hasn't yet been scheduled for a full floor vote.

Taiwan Students Occupy Legislature Over China Pact - Bloomberg
 
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amoy

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Taipei Spring :laugh:

Students have occupied the Legislature for days






Now captured the Admin. bldg :lol:
 

t_co

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This act is a symptom of the falling out between Wang Jinping (the KMT head of the legislature) and Ma Yingjiu (the KMT President). Without a clear command structure in place, the security organs are hesitant to use force against the rioters.
 

Ray

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Notwithstanding the attempts to have better trade relations with Mainland China, it appears that Taiwan is worried that they will get swamped by the bigger and more aggressive economy of Mainland China.
 

CCP

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Notwithstanding the attempts to have better trade relations with Mainland China, it appears that Taiwan is worried that they will get swamped by the bigger and more aggressive economy of Mainland China.
Well, Taiwan has no choice.
We can just give South Korean another chance.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140321000784
Published : 2014-03-21 13:04
The latest round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement between South Korea and China came to a close on Friday with the two countries merely confirming what officials here called "large differences" on key issues.
"The two sides each requested market liberalization in areas of their own interests, but their discussions could not progress significantly as their differences remained tightly locked," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.
Their main differences came from the list of products to be liberalized or protected under the proposed free trade deal.
South Korea has demanded an early removal of import tariffs on industrialized goods, while China has been seeking greater access to the South Korean market for food and agricultural products, often considered the most sensitive issue in South Korea's FTA negotiations with countries generally.
"The differences remain wide between South Korea and China on major issues, including products," the ministry said.
In the seventh round of negotiations, held in September, the two countries agreed to remove their import tariffs on 90 percent of all products traded between them.
They have since been working to map out a detailed list of products to be liberalized, but apparently to no avail.
South Korea's top negotiator in the talks with China insisted such difficulties are a necessary part of the process.
"I believe it is a hurdle that must be cleared at least once," Assistant Trade Minister Woo Tae-hee told a press briefing.
"It allows both sides to understand each other's position, and thus I believe it provides an opportunity for the countries to narrow their gap."
Vice Trade Minister Han Jin-hyun earlier said the countries' positions were bound to differ, "depending on which area they focus on more."
Yoon Sang-jick, minister of trade, industry and energy, too, has said, "It does not mean negotiations are not moving forward just because there is no (visible) progress. It rather means the negotiations are moving toward an end."
South Korea has repeatedly said it is giving top priority to FTA negotiations with China, the world's second-largest economy and the largest importer of South Korean goods. South Korea is currently engaged in negotiations for eight new, separate FTAs, including a three-way trade pact that involves China and Japan.
This week's negotiations were the 10th of their kind since the South Korea-China FTA negotiations were first held in May 2012.
The next round of negotiations will be held in China on a date to be decided later, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
 
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Compersion

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Does the above not justify what PRC did for Tienanmen Square. Whats the difference between that and the above (who cares what is a water cannon).

Also what is the influence and viewpoint in areas like Hong Kong and overseas Chinese. Are they in angst - is there no support.

Finally what is wrong with PRC money coming into Taiwan.
 

Srinivas_K

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Anger Grows in Taiwan Against Deal With China
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Demonstrators who have occupied Taiwan's legislature since last week expanded their protest of a trade deal with China on Sunday evening by invading the government building nearby that houses the offices of the prime minister.

The protesters, including many students from local universities, have accused President Ma Ying-jeou and his allies in the governing Kuomintang of forcing through the trade measure without allowing a review of its details, which they fear will give Beijing too much influence over the island's economy.

"I'm very angry at President Ma," said Shiu Rung-kai, 21, a student at National Hsinchu University of Education who joined thousands of protesters inside the government compound.

By early Monday morning the police had cleared demonstrators from the government building, detaining dozens, according to local news media reports, although hundreds of protesters remained in the courtyard outside.

Continue reading the main story
RELATED COVERAGE

Sinosphere Blog: Taiwan President Calls on Students to End Occupation of LegislatureMARCH 23, 2014
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Prime Minister Jiang Yi-huah said the intrusion was an "illegal and violent act," Taiwan's Central News Agency reported, citing a cabinet spokesman.

Police officers were seen swinging wooden clubs to clear protesters from the road behind the building. At least 70 were injured, the news agency reported.

Earlier Sunday, the student leaders occupying the legislature called for a bipartisan "citizens constitutional conference" and for sending the trade pact to committee for further review.

The pact, which was signed by semiofficial organizations from Taiwan and China in June 2013, opens up a wide range of service industry fields to cross-strait investment. It has raised concerns that local businesses will suffer, and that Taiwan will fall further under the influence of China, which considers the self-governed island part of its territory.

In a news conference Sunday morning, Mr. Ma said that legislative approval of the pact was important for Taiwan's economic competitiveness, and that rejecting the deal would threaten Taiwan's ability to sign trade accords with other countries. Taiwan faces higher average duties on its exports than regional competitors like South Korea, Japan and Singapore, the president said.

Regional economic integration is "an unstoppable global trend," he said. "If we do not face this and join in the process, it will only be a matter of time before we are eliminated from the competition."

While Taipei is used to seeing large protests, an extended occupation of the legislative chambers is unprecedented.

"He hasn't really responded to our questions," Hao Chang-cheng, a 21-year-old junior at the National Taipei University of Technology, said after Mr. Ma's news conference. The students seem likely to continue their occupation of the legislature.

"I feel like we must keep continuing on," Mr. Hao said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/world/asia/anger-grows-in-taiwan-against-deal-with-china.html?_r=0
 

Srinivas_K

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Taiwan police use water cannon to retake government HQ
TAIPEI: Taiwan riot police used water cannon Monday to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators who stormed government headquarters, escalating a protest over a China trade pact that has seen parliament occupied for nearly a week.

A total of 1,000 officers were deployed overnight to remove the protesters from the Executive Yuan where the cabinet is located, Taipei's police department said, adding that 32 people were arrested.

In wild scenes, demonstrators pulled down barbed wire barricades surrounding the government building, and used ladders to break into offices on the second floor.

Clashes broke out when police tried to remove the protesters from the building and the compound surrounding it, with many lying on the ground with their hands linked to try to defy efforts to shift them.

Police used riot shields to push the crowds back while some of the demonstrators tried to grab their batons and pelted them with plastic bottles. Two water cannon trucks were then deployed, eventually subduing the crowd and clearing the building.

One injured male protester lay on the ground being attended to by medical personnel while another was led away with blood streaming down his face, AFP journalists saw.

Taiwan's TVBS news channel said around 120 people were injured in the clashes, but police were not immediately able to confirm the figure.

National Taiwan University Hospital which is located near the government headquarters said it had treated 57 injured people and police officers since late Sunday.

The protesters, who occupied the nearby parliament last Tuesday, are opposed to a pact with China which is designed to open up trade in services between China and Taiwan, which split 65 years ago after a civil war.

Opponents say it will damage Taiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to political pressure from China, allegations rejected by Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang party.
Taiwan police use water cannon to retake government HQ - The Times of India
 

nimo_cn

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The trade pact was overruled by the pro-independence DPP in the absence of KMT today, which in my opinion is not a bad news to businessmen in China, because they dont have to worry about the one way invasion of Taiwanese capital into sectors which mainland China has not opened to any other countries.

Such an unfair trade pact could only be reached because mainland is still an authoritarian regime, which enables CCP to pursue its political agenda at the cost of Chinese entrepreneurs without meeting any opposition from the people.

That being said, I am still interested to know how they are gonna compete against South Korea in mainland after the FTA is signed between China and SK, as we all know that over 60 percent of Taiwan's exports to mainland overlaps with South Korea's. Taiwanese technology industry is already being beaten by South Koreans worldwide, the incoming FTA will give South Koreans extra advantages and make the situation more difficult for Taiwan.

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t_co

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The right move. What sort of government lets a few thousand protesters occupy the heart of its government for days on end?

Also, one of the most anti-China expats living in Taiwan that I know, Michael Turton, described the situation as thus:

Cole believes as I do that the EY undermined the Occupation's public image but thinks the police attack on the protesters will offset the damage. However, the media will blame the protesters, and many in the public will likely follow suit. This will likely be a net harm to the cause.

J Michael also said that there was little damage to the EY but other reports I heard and from what was on the feeds suggest otherwise. Apparently Premier Jiang's office was ransacked and from other offices computers and such were carried out. However, those reports have not been confirmed by media on the ground.
Good. Now that the security forces have a seeming mandate from the public, it's time to move on those thugs who've occupied the LY as well.
 

Compersion

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Has the deal been passed - has it been delayed. whats the status. whats wrong with the way the deal was done. the president has power and what about the legislature. did the balance and checks not work. that means there was executive and legislative support. the politicians must have screw up somewhere.

one thing is that the youngsters believed in what they were doing and willing to go to jail and face the action they suffer. thank god that no one got seriously hurt and thank god that the authorities did not want to make anyone seriously hurt.

finally some are saying that it was failure of the president and his style of being arrogant. some are really upset at his performance saying he only has 9% approval rating. perhaps this is more about dissatisfaction against the leader ...

Taiwan police clash with students protesting Chinese trade deal - CNN.com

(the comments section is where the juice is).
 

W.G.Ewald

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The right move. What sort of government lets a few thousand protesters occupy the heart of its government for days on end?
That would be US government response at several levels to OWS.
 

Yusuf

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Its good that the Taiwanese youngsters are resisting such deals with China. The Taiwanese have seen investment move from Taiwan to. China & the jobs that go with it. Many Taiwanese companies are now regretting investing in China as the costs have gone up negating the reason to move. Moreover, China is using economics to achieve its ultimate political goal.
 

t_co

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That would be US government response at several levels to OWS.
Please show me the pictures where OWS protesters were occupying the main chambers of the Capitol and multiple offices in the West Wing. And if you have them, please inform me how much pepper spray and tasering was applied in evicting them from said premises.
 

Srinivas_K

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Protests Add Woes to Formosa Debt as Dim Sum Booms: China Credit

Protests against closer economic ties with China are threatening to condemn Taiwan's offshore-yuan debt market to another year in the shadow of Hong Kong's Dim Sum bonds.

About 1.5 billion yuan ($242 million) of Formosa notes were sold in Taiwan this year, 1 percent of total offshore renminbi debt issuance of 162 billion yuan, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Only nine of the 15 bonds sold in the market's debut year traded in the secondary market in the first two months of 2014, according to GreTai Securities Market, the main exchange. A trade pact that would open up the services sector between China and Taiwan has been stalled amid violent clashes.

Taiwan's yuan debt market has a long way to go to meet the exchange's target of 22 billion yuan in issuance in 2014, even as holdings of China's currency on the island more than doubled from six months earlier to 247 billion yuan on Feb. 28. Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police removing them from a sit-in at cabinet offices this week amid fears China would use closer economic ties to assert political control on the island, which it considers a renegade province.

"There's been little demand from the market because interest rates aren't that appealing compared with Dim Sum bonds," said Louis Mao, a Taipei-based fund manager at Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Co., which oversees NT$294 billion ($9.6 billion) and doesn't hold any Formosa debt. "The services pact would increase the need for yuan funding in Taiwan as more firms expand operations into China."

Yield Spread

At 1.62 percent, the 10-year sovereign yield on Taiwan dollar bonds is the world's fifth-lowest, making borrowing especially cheap. The discount for the benchmark against that of China's government has widened 64 basis points in the past year to 293 basis points on March 24. Taiwan's central bank has kept its benchmark discount rate at 1.875 percent since June 2011, the longest-ever period without a change.

Yuan bonds in Taiwan have lower yields than those in Hong Kong. The Export-Import Bank of Korea sold 10-year Formosa bonds at 4.5 percent in January, compared with a yield of 4.988 percent on similar-maturity Dim Sum bonds at the time.

Global offshore yuan bond issuance has surged 97 percent this year even as the average yield climbed 30 basis points to 4.36 percent, an HSBC Holdings Plc index showed. Dim Sum debt sales may swell past 500 billion yuan for the first time this year, according to HSBC, the top-ranked underwriter.

Services Pact

Yuan note sales in Taiwan will be boosted by the passage of the services pact, which will facilitate remittances of the currency to free-trade zones in China, said Soushan Wu, chairman of GreTai Securities. The exchange has doubled its target for Formosa issuance from last year's 10.6 billion yuan sales to 22 billion yuan in 2014. Half of this year's offerings will come from Chinese banks while the rest will be sold by Taiwan firms with businesses on the mainland, Wu added.

The China-Taiwan agreement signed in August would open as many as 80 service industries including banking, brokerages and e-commerce to competition across the Taiwan Strait.

The deal could lead to China getting control of more than half of the island's banking industry, opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Tseng-chang said on March 20. Student protesters accuse President Ma Ying-jeou of fast-tracking the agreement and failing to address their concerns. While the government supports a detailed review, the pact can't be retracted because it is good for "our efforts to become a free market," Premier Jiang Yi-huah said on March 22.

1,000 Missiles

The troubles reflect a growing skepticism over greater economic integration with China, which has kept more than 1,000 missiles pointed at Taiwan in demonstration of its resolve for eventual unification. China and Taiwan have been governed separately since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists decamped to the island during a civil war. Though China became Taiwan's largest trade partner more than a decade ago and direct flights between the territories began in 2008, the two have never signed a peace treaty or negotiated a truce.

Wang Yu-chi, minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, traveled to Shanghai in February and met with Zhang Zhijun, minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, marking the first official cross-strait contact in 65 years. President Ma has deepened Taiwan's financial ties with China, which include a yuan-clearing agreement signed August 2012 that paved the way for the island taking yuan deposits and selling Formosa notes.

Limited Options

Taiwan's financial regulator has so far restricted the type of Chinese issuers and capped their sales at a total of 10 billion yuan, just 67 percent of which has been used. Two calls and an e-mail to the Financial Supervisory Commission's Securities and Futures Bureau didn't draw a response yesterday.

The current quota may limit options for the six mainland banks, including policy lender China Development Bank Corp. and Bank of China Ltd., that have expressed interest this year in offering Formosa debt. China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of China Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. are among those that have issued yuan debt in Taiwan.

While Chinese banks have a strong demand for funding that Taiwan's large yuan pool can fulfill, local regulations remain an obstacle, according to Becky Liu, a Hong Kong-based rates strategist at Standard Chartered Plc.

The Chinese banks that "do have the genuine need are unable to issue, or unable to issue more" because of regulations, Liu said. Also, demand for yuan among Taiwanese lenders won't increase until they hold more yuan assets such as trade-financing loans, she said.

Competition Intensifies

China has pledged support for offshore yuan hubs in a push to enlarge the currency's role in global trade and finance. Competition for yuan business has intensified, with London and Singapore selling Dim Sum notes. The U.K. and Singapore have both signed deals with China to start direct foreign-exchange trading and arrange currency swaps.

While the yuan has gained 8.9 percent in the last three years, its appreciation has paused as the Chinese central bank allowed the currency to decline to discourage one-way appreciation bets. The yuan and Taiwan dollar's have been Asia's two worst-performing currencies in the past three months, dropping 2.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively, on signs economic growth on the mainland is slowing.

Yields on Formosa bonds need to be high enough relative to similar debt in Hong Kong's Dim Sum market in order to compensate for low liquidity, said Vincent Wu, Taipei-based chief investment officer at the fixed-income department of Fuh Hwa Securities Investment Trust Co., which manages NT$179 billion of assets. He said he has bought just one of the Formosa offerings, which he didn't name, so far for his yuan bond fund.

"The Dim Sum market still gives more investment choices," Wu said. "For the previous issues in Taiwan's yuan market, interest rates were still slightly lower than those in Hong Kong."

Protests Add Woes to Formosa Debt as Dim Sum Booms: China Credit - Bloomberg
 

Srinivas_K

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Taiwan Protest Draws More Than 100,000 Against China Pact

More than 100,000 Taiwanese marched in Taipei to protest a trade deal with China, challenging President Ma Ying-jeou's plan to improve economic relations between the political rivals.

As many as half a million people joined the demonstrations yesterday in a turnout that "wrote history," student leader Lin Fei-fan said at the rally. The National Police Agency estimated there were 116,000 demonstrators. Protesters gathered outside the presidential office a day after Ma rejected demands to withdraw an agreement to open Taiwan's service industries to competitors from China.

"China doesn't respect what Taiwan wants, and this trade deal will help it get more control over us," said Justin Hsu, 27, a factory worker who traveled from Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan to join the march.

Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police on the night of March 23 after storming the cabinet compound for the first time in Taiwan's history. The stalemate, now approaching its third week, may stall the country's growth, economists at Bank of America said. The protests reflect growing skepticism over greater economic integration with China, which has become Taiwan's largest trade partner even as the neighbors remain without a truce after a civil war six decades ago.

"The protest is a chance for the students to show they have widespread support for their view that the trade pact and the way Ma's government functions is not in Taiwan's best interests," said Bruce Jacobs, author of "Democratizing Taiwan" and Emeritus Professor of Asian Languages and Studies at Monash University in Melbourne. "There's a valid concern in Taiwan about the military and political threat China poses."

Civil War

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled during a civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists who won control of China. The country still claims Taiwan, which held its first democratic presidential election in 1996, as part of its territory, pointing more than 1,000 missiles at its neighbor in demonstration of its will for eventual unification.

The protesters, whose occupation of the legislative chamber is entering the 14th day, are demanding a renegotiation of the services deal and regulations to monitor future agreements with China.

President Ma said March 29 that while he supports an item-by-item review of the agreement at the legislature, a withdrawal would undermine Taiwan's economy and international credibility. He promised support for a legal mechanism to monitor future cross-strait deals, while stressing that the services pact should proceed.

Sunflower Movement

Many demonstrators wore black and held sunflowers, a reference to the "Sunflower Movement" for which the protests have been named.

Student leader Lin called on demonstrators at the rally to continue occupying the legislature this week. The monitoring measures should be legislated before the services pact is reviewed, he said. Committee meetings at the legislature resumed today after a two-week suspension, while tomorrow's full-floor session will be canceled because of the occupation.

Taiwan's benchmark Taiex index was little changed at 8,776.21 as of 11 a.m. today while its Financial and Insurance Industry Index slid 0.6 percent, the biggest drop since March 20. Taiwan's dollar climbed 0.2 percent against the U.S. dollar.

"The benchmark index opened higher today as the rally yesterday ended peacefully, removing fears of violence," KGI Securities Investment Advisory Co. Chairman Tu Jin-lung said. Financial stocks fell as protesters were still demanding the withdrawal of the services pact, which would boost Taiwanese firms' access to China's financial markets, Tu said.

Impasse Continues

Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party has sided with the students in rejecting the trade agreement, which was signed last June and would open up as many as 80 service industries such as banking and e-commerce.

Caucus leaders from ruling and opposition parties failed to reach a consensus during four rounds of talks last week to resolve the impasse, while students rejected an offer to meet with Ma, saying that he's not interested in genuine dialogue.

Ma, who started his first term as president in 2008, has deepened Taiwan's economic ties with China, which include a yuan-clearing agreement in 2012 and the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010 that led to the services deal.

'Mutually Beneficial'

The government has promoted the agreement "to ensure Taiwan's economic vitality and to create conditions conducive to Taiwan's participation in the process of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region," Ma said March 29.

Failure to pass the agreement would cap Taiwan's economic expansion this year at 2.5 percent, according to Bank of America Corp., which estimates growth of 2.9 percent. The agreement is needed for a deal on goods trade with China as well as a program that would allow the island's funds to invest yuan directly in China's onshore markets, Taiwan's Central Bank Governor Perng Fai-Nan said March 27, referring to its quota for Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors.

The trade pact can bring "mutually beneficial, practical benefits" to both Taiwan and China, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said March 26. He didn't comment on whether China would be willing to renegotiate.

Black Box

Protests erupted this month after Ma's ruling Kuomintang party said the trade deal had cleared committee procedures, which the DPP said violated an earlier agreement to a detailed review of the pact's provisions. Ma used "black box" tactics to push the deal through, according to the students.

Tensions increased in the early hours of March 24, when policemen used water cannons and batons to disperse protesters, injuring more than 100 people.

President Ma "doesn't really know why the students are still here," Meredith Huang, a student-protest leader, said on March 27. "He doesn't accept what the students want."

More than 1,000 people also marched in Hong Kong yesterday to support Taiwan's students, Hong Kong Cable Television reported, citing an estimate by the city's Federation of Students, which organized the rally.

Wang Yu-chi, minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, traveled to Nanjing in February and met with Zhang Zhijun, minister of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, marking the first official contact between the two governments.

"This is about Taiwan's fears of the invasion of mainland values," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong. "It's a matter of political orientation, not treaty terms."

Taiwan Protest Draws More Than 100,000 Against China Pact - Bloomberg
 

amoy

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Over 100,000 protest in Taiwan over China trade deal | Reuters


Taiwan has a trade surplus of US$ 120bil in Y2013 against Mainland China. China and S.Korea are likely to finalize FTA within 2014 (probably without Japan who's in sour relations with both). FTA will enable SK with an edge over Taiwan as a formidable competitor in almost the same categories of exports to China - electronics, steel, chemicals and so on. That's why the ruling KMT keenly pushes the trade deal ahead.

Taiwan's 2013 trade surplus with China shows 21.6% growth | Economics | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS
S. Korea, China advance FTA negotiations further - BUSINESS - Globaltimes.cn
S.Korea, China see gaps on goods liberalization at 10th FTA talks - Xinhua | English.news.cn
China-Japan-South Korea Hold FTA Talks Despite Political Tension | The Diplomat
 

nimo_cn

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they say want to renegotiate the pact, for what? for more unilateral compromise from mainland?

it's better to be blocked by the students, and never to be brought up again.

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Taiwan Speaker to Postpone China Trade-Pact Review
Taiwan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said he will halt a lawmakers' review of a trade pact with China until an oversight bill passes, in a concession to students who have occupied the legislature for 20 days over the deal.

Wang made the remarks, carried on local television yesterday, before visiting the students protesting what they said was the Taiwanese government's move to push through the deal without proper review. Wang urged the students to end the occupation, according to Taipei-based broadcaster TVBS.

"We see and hear Speaker Wang's goodwill," student leader Lin Fei-fan said in comments aired on TVBS. "We'll discuss the Speaker's call for us to leave the chamber."

The decision to postpone passage of the trade pact could help reduce tensions with the students, whose demonstrations reflect growing skepticism in Taiwan over greater economic integration with China. The cabinet last week approved a bill to monitor agreements with the mainland, including procedures for public consultations and safeguarding national security, which needs to be passed by lawmakers.

Student leaders have supported a separate oversight bill drafted by civic groups. A March 30 rally against the China trade pact negotiated by President Ma Ying-jeou's government drew more than 100,000 demonstrators.

Foxconn Technology Group (2317) Chairman Terry Gou said in an e-mailed statement that he admires Wang's wisdom and feels sympathy for the students. Gou, whose company assembles Apple Inc.'s iPhones at factories in China, called on the students and all political parties to learn to let go of their differences so Taiwan can move forward.

'In the Dark'

Kuomintang legislative caucus leader Lin Hung-chih said ruling party lawmakers were "shocked" by Wang's announcement as they were kept "totally in the dark," according to comments broadcast by TVBS.

"I feel sold out by Speaker Wang," Kuomintang lawmaker Alex Fai said in remarks aired by ETTV.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party approves of Wang's decision, Chairman Su Tseng-chang said in an e-mailed statement.

The services agreement, which follows 2010's Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement between China and Taiwan, was signed by trade negotiators in June and would open up as many as 80 industries including banking, brokerages, publishing and hospitals. The two sides have been ruled by separate governments for more than 60 years after a civil war.

Taiwan Speaker to Postpone China Trade-Pact Review - Bloomberg
 

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