Johnnason Liu: The people of Taiwan have enjoyed
substantial benefits since the signing of the four agreements nearly a year ago
According to some media reports,
the opposition party believes that, in signing the four agreements during the
second Chiang-Chen Talks, Taiwan "made too many concessions, thus causing public
doubts about its ability to engage in negotiations." In response, MAC Deputy
Minister Johnnason Liu indicates that the four agreements signed nearly a year
ago have brought considerable substantial benefits to the normalization of
cross-strait economic and trade exchanges. The opposition party’s criticism and
the media reports are broadly inconsistent with the facts. A special
clarification is provided as follows:
1. Mainland tourists have not
squeezed out international visitors: Since July 18, 2008, when Mainland tourists
were first allowed to visit Taiwan, they have made nearly 470,000 person-trips
to Taiwan, generating about NT$31 billion in foreign exchange revenue for
Taiwan. Moreover, the number of person-trips made by international tourists
visiting Taiwan from January to September this year also rose by 4.1 percent
compared to the same period the year before, clearly showing that Mainland
tourists have not squeezed out international visitors.
2. The signing of the
Cross-Strait Air Transport Agreement has increased passenger flight points and
flights, as well as greatly reduced flight time: Since July 4, 2008, Taiwan has
successively implemented weekend charter flights, weekday charter flights, and
regular cross-strait flights, which have transported a total of 2.56 million
cross-strait passengers. Airfares on all of the air routes, except for the
Xiamen-Haikou route, have fallen. The fare reduction has averaged about 14
percent, with fares for the Taoyuan-Wuhan route dropping as much as 32 percent.
3. The Cross-Strait Sea
Transport Agreement is also applicable to the flag-of-convenience vessels owned
by shipping companies on either side of the Taiwan Strait: After the signing of
the agreement, Taiwanese ships no longer need to detour via Japan’s Ishigaki
Island, saving on average approximately 16 to 27 hours per voyage, and reducing
shipping costs by 15 to 30 percent. Flag-of-convenient vessels that are
currently already engaging in offshore shipping center transport, cross-strait
third-territory container line transport, and sand and gravel transport, may,
with special permission, also enjoy the benefits of direct cross-strait
transport links under the cross-strait sea transport agreement.
4. The Cross-Strait Postal
Service Agreement is conducive to remitting capital back to Taiwan: The main
benefit of the postal service agreement is to improve the time efficiency and
security of cross-strait postal services. As for postal remittances, in the
past, Taiwan residents were allowed to make postal remittances to the Mainland.
This agreement expands on this by allowing remittances from the Mainland to
Taiwan, which will help Taiwanese to remit their capital back to Taiwan.
5. The two sides have
established institutionalized liaison windows and a normal exchange mechanism
for food safety: The institutionalized cross-strait liaison window for food
safety-related issues was established on the day when the agreement came into
effect, providing a channel for carrying out prompt notification of major food
safety information. Over 400 cases have been handled through this channel over
the past year. Furthermore, the two sides have established a normalized exchange
mechanism and related work teams to upgrade the efficiency of cross-strait food
safety management.
Deputy Minister Liu further
states that, with the Lunar New Year holidays approaching, the health
authorities in Taiwan have strengthened inspection of Lunar New Year foods. On
October 4, 2009, they detected pesticide residue on tremella imported from
mainland China. They not only posted this information on the "Unsafe Imports
Information Website" of the Cabinet-level Consumer Protection Commission, but
they also ordered that the said products be immediately removed from store
shelves. Taiwan also immediately notified the Mainland side of this matter via
the liaison channels established under the food safety agreement to demand
prompt improvement. In addition, the Mainland side used this channel to promptly
inform the Taiwan side of a recent case in which Taiwan’s Wei Chuan milk powder
and Uni-President sweetened soy milk that have been exported to mainland China
failed to meet the Mainland’s sanitation standards.
6. Cross-Strait Joint
Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement: Since this agreement
came into effect, the two sides have made various types of requests for mutual
assistance in handling 2,299 criminal cases. Furthermore, in April and June this
year, the Mainland side repatriated two major wanted criminals back to Taiwan.
The two sides also conducted joint investigations that broke up three
telecommunication fraud rings. Definite results have been achieved and the MAC
will continue to pay close attention to this matter.
Citing data released by the
Criminal Investigation Bureau on September 8, Deputy Minister Liu indicates that
Taiwanese residents had established a telephone fraud base in Chengdu. On
September 8, the police on the two sides conducted a simultaneous raid at over
20 locations, including Taipei City and Taipei County as well as Taoyuan, Yilan
and Changhua counties in Taiwan and Chengdu in mainland China, respectively. The
Taiwan side arrested 23 people, and the Mainland side arrested eight Taiwanese
organizers and their accomplices, for a total of 32 arrests. The case is now
under active investigation and processing. Deputy Minister Liu states that when
a mechanism is formed, a breaking-in period is required before it can properly
operate. However, through mutual assistance among public security authorities,
definite results have been achieved to date. The MAC will also continue to
closely express concern over this matter.
Deputy Minister Liu emphasizes
that, since the establishment of institutionalized negotiation channels, the two
sides have held three rounds of Chiang-Chen Talks, successfully signed nine
agreements, and reached one consensus. All of the benefits from the agreements
are shared jointly by the entire public. The two sides have also continually
communicated with each other to handle matters that require further improvement
through relevant mechanisms. Related news reports therefore should not
intentionally obliterate the fact that the substantial benefits have indeed been
brought by these agreements.