Two accords bring Taipei and Beijing closer
Taipei (AsiaNews) - A few days before Chinese New Year, mainland China and Taiwan reached two major agreements, one financial and the other diplomatic.
On 6 February, the Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the mainland's People's Bank of China agreed to authorise 46 Taiwanese banks to provide yuan-clearance services on the island.
As of yesterday Taiwan investors' total savings in renminbi topped a 1 billion yuan, but the total amount of Chinese currency flowing into Taiwan could exceed 100 billion yuan within a year.
An estimated trillion Taiwanese dollars have already found their way into mainland China, but the central bank has yet to determine the actual amount, this according to Mr Chen (陳阿梪), who works for a major Taiwanese bank.
Some Hong Kong banks already have branches on the mainland where they can clear Taiwanese dollars, making it easier for mainlanders travelling to Taiwan to buy New Taiwan dollars before landing on the island. Last week, banknotes worth 25 million New Taiwan dollars (US$ 850,000) were shipped directly to the mainland.
The advantage for Taiwan is clear because now its banks can offer services they could not before, Chen said. If the island wants to compete with Hong Kong and Shanghai, it has to have access to large liquidity and diversify its banking services.
Although not yet clinched, the other deal refers to negotiations between the Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF, 海峽交流基金會) and its mainland counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS, 海峽兩岸關係協會) to set up offices on the two sides of the strait.
On 6 February, Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦), chairman of the Taiwan's top mainland policy planning body, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC, 行政院大陸委員會主任委員)), told a news conference in Taipei that a draft proposal would go to parliament (立法院) for approval in the next six months.
This tops a process of integration and rapprochement between the island and the mainland that began with Ma Ying-jeou's election as Taiwan's president in 2008. So far, 18 accords have been signed between the two sides, especially in the three areas (三通) initially proposed by China's People's National Congress (全國人民代表大會) in 1979, reiterated on 15 December 2008, namely mail (通邮), transportation (通航) and trade (通商).
In just a few decades, 70 per cent Taiwan's foreign investment has ended up in mainland China. World-leading Taiwanese companies like Foxconn (鴻海科技集團), TSMC (台灣積體電路製造公司), HTC and many more now operate on the other side of the strait.
On 29 June 2010, Taipei and Beijing also inked the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA, 海峽兩岸經濟合作架構協議), a preferential trade agreement to cut tariffs and commercial barriers between the two sides but that would allow Taiwan to sign other international agreements with Beijing's accord.
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20/01/2005
