[外媒] 馬接受經濟學人專訪完整稿

[marking (發泡蘇打粉)]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2014/03/interview-taiwans-president
Straight from Mr Ma's mouth
Mar 28th 2014, 10:48 by The Economist
The Economist interviewed Ma Ying-jeou, the president of Taiwan, on March
21st, 2014. The interview was used in the reporting of this week's lead note,
as well as a Banyan column, and a portion was produced as a video, available
here. The following is a transcript of our correspondent's interview, with
translation from the Mandarin provided by the president's office.



Q1. The Cross-strait Trade in Services Agreement has become a contentious
issue in Taiwan. In the past few days, for example, students have occupied
the Legislative Yuan. Why do you think there is controversy over the
agreement?

President Ma: In Taiwan, any matter that involves cross-strait relations will
cause some degree of contention. Domestically, we have not yet reached a
significant consensus on how we want to develop our relations with mainland
China.

The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is part of the Cross-Straits Economic
Co-operation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that we signed with the mainland four
years ago. We had explained then that the ECFA is a big framework that would
cover trade in services and goods, settlement of disputes, and economic
co-operation.

The current situation is caused mainly by a misunderstanding among the public
that the TiSA was not put forth for public review. As a matter of fact, over
the past year or so, the government has held 110 rounds of talks with 46
different sectors. But because most were small-scale, the public might not
have known about them. At the same time, [relevant government agencies] have
briefed the Legislative Yuan three times, but critics argue that the
agreement would pose a major threat to Taiwan. For example, it would take
away job opportunities. But the TiSA will not open Taiwan’s job market to
mainland Chinese workers. Explicit restrictions are in place in Article 3 of
the agreement. Then some people say that it would jeopardise Taiwan’s
national security. In reality, Article 11 of the TiSA prescribes measures for
exceptions, that is, restrictions could be imposed if it involved national
security. Then there are others who say that the agreement showed disparity,
with Taiwan opening more sub-sectors to the mainland than vice versa. This is
not true either. Taiwan will be allowed access to 80 sub-sectors in mainland
China. Many other sub-sectors have not been included in the TiSA because
these had already been liberalised in 2001 [when the mainland joined the
World Trade Organisation].

After the past several months of clarification, the true picture has become
very clear. The current situation has developed because of a dispute that has
arisen in the Legislative Yuan during deliberations over the TiSA. Ongoing
disputes between the two major political parties have led to this situation.
The best solution is to return to the original consensus. I believe there is
a chance that the issue could then be resolved.

Q2. What efforts will the government make to address the concerns of the
people?

President Ma: Last October, negotiations held between the ruling and
opposition parties concluded that the TiSA would be subject to an
item-by-item review and vote. The government too agreed with this approach.
However, public hearings on the TiSA took more than four months, causing a
lengthy delay. The different parties were concerned that this might cause
misgivings in the international community and wanted to speed up the process.

Since the debate began on March 10th, there have been many disagreements.
When Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members were presiding over the
meeting, they did not allow Kuomintang (KMT) members to express their views.
When KMT members were presiding, DPP members occupied the podium. So
eventually, KMT legislators decided that they would follow the regulations
and deem the review to have been completed. I believe that such disputes
concerning legislative review should be resolved through the Legislature’s
internal negotiation mechanism. This would allow the review to proceed as
originally planned.

Q3. Are there differing opinions of the TiSA within the Kuomintang?

President Ma: The KMT holds a unanimous view internally but differs greatly
from the opposition.

Q4. Some people say that Wang Jin-pyng has made no effort to push for the
passage of the TiSA. Do you agree?

President Ma: The KMT legislative caucus fully supports the TiSA. We can tell
from the meeting convened on March 18th. Because Wang is President of the
Legislative Yuan, he has to maintain a transcendent stance on all issues. Of
course he wants the TiSA to be passed. He has in the past openly expressed
support for the agreement. However, the procedure requires negotiations
between the ruling and opposition parties. I think the best way forward is
through internal legislative negotiation. Similar disagreements have occurred
in the past and have eventually been resolved.

When we signed the ECFA four years ago, the Legislature was the scene of
fisticuffs. Some people were injured and sent for emergency treatment.
Therefore, I hope that people can remain calm and find a solution to the
issue. I believe that this can be resolved.

Q5. If the TiSA is not ratified soon, how will it impact Taiwan’s trade
relations with other countries and with mainland China?

President Ma: If the TiSA is not ratified or if it has to be renegotiated, it
could have serious consequences and be detrimental to Taiwan’s interests.
External trade accounts for 70% of Taiwan’s economic growth. Taiwan has long
performed well in external trade, but in the past ten years or so, countries
around the world have signed free-trade agreements (FTA). Many countries want
to do business with Taiwan, but when it comes to signing a FTA with us, they
become hesitant, because of our diplomatic predicament.

We managed to sign the ECFA with mainland China four years ago, which made it
possible for us to sign an investment arrangement with Japan and economic
co-operation agreements (ECA) with New Zealand and Singapore. Our
international space has begun to expand. We also want to pursue similar deals
with the United States and the European Union, and join the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
However, if the TiSA is not passed, it would affect our signing of a trade in
goods agreement with mainland China. As well, the international community
would find it odd that Taiwan, while voicing an interest in joining in
regional economic integration, is stalling domestically because of procedural
issues. Our sincerity and determination would be questioned. Especially, if
after signing the deal with the mainland, we then reverse course, we would no
longer be creditable. We might be regarded as an unreliable trade partner.
This would be most unfavourable as regards our international participation.

Q6. Do you plan to meet with mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping?

President Ma: I have always maintained an open mind. Last year, we suggested
that we could arrange a meeting at the APEC summit so we could avoid the use
of official titles and because of venue concerns. The APEC summit is a
custom-made forum, as participants represent not countries but economies.
They are not addressed as presidents or premiers, but as leaders. The plan
was devised long ago, and put in place over 20 years ago to avoid such
political concerns. I thought that it would be a good opportunity and the
people of Taiwan were very supportive of this idea. However, mainland China
does not want the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to meet at an
international event. We do not have an answer at this time. We hope that
should an opportunity arise, we could create appropriate conditions and
perhaps again consider it. As of now, we do not have another plan.

經濟學人有聲明說
這段訪談的內容已經出現在前兩篇文章中，部分片段也製作成影音檔
大家認為訪談全文逐字稿還有需要翻成中文嗎?
想看的請推文，我再盡快翻譯~



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※ 文章網址: http://www.ptt.cc/bbs/FuMouDiscuss/M.1396004460.A.2F4.html
推 yoyodiy:外媒的英文都還算簡單 連我托福550分 申請學校都沒人要
→ yoyodiy:也能輕鬆看懂反觀國內英文教育都很艱深 and than 學生英文
推 Maxslack:托福550是哪招XD
→ jeffreyshe:Toefl滿分才120
→ yoyodiy:有變好嗎? 根本就壓苗助長
推 BingBaKing:一樓你是想說多益吧....
→ kairi5217:..............揠
→ marking:現在講英文程度很重要嗎?請不要模糊焦點
→ dvleo:以下開放圓仔表示
→ imoimo:可不可以請問為什麼那麼多篇文章裡面推文要提到圓仔
推 RonYen:搞不好舊制托福?
→ imoimo:圓仔怎麼了？
→ marking:1F可能不知道，經濟學人的用字極其講究，也擅長雙關比喻
→ alamabarry:仔細一點看~~~每個字母都看得懂
→ marking:自認英文很好但一翻就錯很大的人我見多了，不懂就看中譯
→ marking:確保資訊正確傳遞不是更好? 拉回正題，大家想看翻譯嗎?
→ TonyQ:有餘力的話請幫忙翻譯吧 讓更多人看懂:)
→ marking:當初怕資訊重複太多才會問需不需要翻，幸好還是翻了，
→ marking:馬在訪談中根本都推給民進黨，整個避重就輕