Executive Yuan spokesman Johnny Chi-chen Chiang denied on the evening of May 20 that Taiwan will soon sign free trade agreements with the Philippines and Singapore.
“Reports claiming that FTA talks with Singapore and the Philippines are making progress are pure fabrication,” Chiang said.
“We do not deny, however, that the ROC wishes to sign FTAs with its major trading partners,” he added.
The spokesman’s remarks came after news reports quoted sources as saying that Taiwan will likely sign FTAs with Singapore and the Philippines by the end of this year.
In a May 19 interview with Reuters news agency, Premier Wu Den-yih said without specifying any nation that “at least two Asian countries have expressed a strong interest in signing FTAs with Taiwan.”
Reports then surfaced the next day that trade talks between the ROC and Singapore were at an advanced level. Some even suggested that Singapore has proposed teaming up with state-run corporations from Taiwan to invest jointly in the mainland Chinese market.
High-ranking officials with the ruling Kuomintang noted that President Ma Ying-jeou announced recently that he personally will serve as the convener of an FTA task force after Taiwan and mainland China sign the economic cooperation framework agreement in June.
If Taiwan can sign not only the ECFA, but also FTAs with Singapore or the Philippines, it would be a breakthrough for the nation and the fulfillment of a promise the president has made to the people of Taiwan, these officials noted.
Analysts indicated that Taiwan and Singapore already completed most of groundwork for an FTA during the previous administration of President Chen Shui-bian.
The FTA could not be signed at the time, however, due to a dispute over what name Taiwan would sign the agreement with.
After Ma assumed the presidency in May 2008, channels of communication between Taiwan and Singapore have been wide open, these analysts said. (HZW)