No “Well-being Economy” without Knowledge of the Common Market

No “Well-being Economy” without Knowledge of the Common Market

By Kao Koong-lian March 5, 2008


DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh’s camp recently lashed out at the KMT’s idea of a cross-Strait common market, saying that it would lead to a one-China market and open Taiwan’s doors to Mainland Chinese laborers. According to Hsieh camp, the cross-Strait common market will cost local barbers their jobs and threaten the livelihood of local farmers by allowing the importation of Mainland Chinese agricultural products. Either the Hsieh camp was ignorant of the idea of a common market or was trying to distort the idea to deceive voters.

First of all, regional economic integration is a global trend. Taiwan can either go with the flow or suffer the consequences of being marginalized. There are different varieties of regional economic integration, depending on the scope and depth of integration: free trade zone, customs union, common market, and economic union. The definitions are, however, relaxed.

Secondly, after the establishment of an economic integration agreement, members decide between themselves the exact scope of goods, capital, technologies, and labor to be exchanged. Each member would naturally try to secure the maximum benefits possible. The terror scenario of “men losing their jobs to Mainland Chinese counterparts, women losing their potential husbands to Mainland Chinese counterparts, and children having to move to the Mainland Chinese province of Heilongjiang” predicted by Hsieh is, therefore, never going to happen.

The cross-Strait common market is an integral part of economic globalization for Taiwan. It is a universally acknowledged fact that Taiwan’s island economy depends on opening-up for survival. Regional economic integration is the only way for Taiwan to reach out to the world and attract foreign investments into Taiwan. Sadly, Taiwan has been doing poorly in attracting foreign investments despite its ideal geographical position and high-quality human resources because of the DPP government’s closed-door policies. According to the report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, while Taiwan was in 19th place in the world in 2004 in terms of development potential, it was also in 125th place in the world in terms of foreign investment, and in Asia trailed not just Hong Kong and Singapore but also Mainland China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia and was ahead of Indonesia only by a small margin. In other words, second to the last in Asia. The DPP government should be ashamed of itself for putting Taiwan in such a spot.

A common market is, naturally, of benefit to all parties involved. This is why the European Union is expanding in size, with countries in East Europe vying for entry. Taiwan’s economy has been stagnant for eight long years. We cannot afford to spin our wheels any longer.

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