New Delhi, April 13 China’s announcement of 10 “incentive measures” for Taiwan may be an attempt to blur the lines between politics and business and the new arrangement cannot surpass the risk of sudden trade bans, a new report has said.
The report from Taipei Times said the incentives covering sales of Taiwanese agricultural and fishery products, investments in China and resumption of travel to Taiwan comes with political prerequisites.
"Such frameworks are not designed to facilitate acceptance, but rather to pressure the Taiwanese government through rejections," the report cited Tunghai University Cross-Strait Research Center deputy executive director Hung Pu-chao.
The announcement of incentives followed a meeting between Chinese Nationalist Party Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, according to the report.
International trade mechanisms only typically require quarantine standards to be met for agricultural imports, but China has imposed political demands including adherence to the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposing “Taiwanese independence,” Feng Chia University international business professor Yang Ming-hsien said.
The “1992 consensus,” refers to a bogus understanding made up in 2000, supposedly between the KMT and the Chinese government, acknowledging “One China,” the report said.
The new imposed political prerequisites for the agreement implied that Taiwanese agricultural products were rejected by China only due to political reasons, he said, adding that chances for such arbitrary rejections continues.
Beijing might also require Taiwanese enterprises to register in China, leading those to invest or establish local production facilities in China, Yang said.
Further, the lack of an investment protection agreement between Taiwan and China, will keep labour recruitment, profit distribution and stakeholder interests in liquidation remain unaddressed, he added.
The professor also urged Taiwan’s agricultural trade to remain diversified across different markets considering these risks.
“The true objective of China’s new policy is to sow division in Taiwan by creating a narrative that the government is obstructing exchanges and hindering development,” the report cited Hung.
It alleged China’s design as an attempt at a diplomatic channel that bypasses Taiwan’s democratically elected government. The aim is a perception that any political party willing to accept China’s political framework can serve as a vehicle for cross-strait interaction, he added.
“If this perception is accepted by other countries, it would impact the government’s representation and leadership in cross-strait affairs, and would become a national security concern,” he added.
Hung warned that infrastructural links from China to Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) and resultant deeper connectivity could impact Taiwan’s governance and national security.
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