ECFA...

Although memorizing dialogues from Everyday Far Eastern Chinese or the protracted sentence patterns of Thought and Society has its masochistic appeal, new students, no doubt harried by their first two weeks of intense Chinese training, are probably ready to test the mettle of their growing vocabularies outside the classroom. Given the restrictions studying places on many people’s schedules, one of the best ways to do this is pick up one of the local newspapers.

This can be more than a little daunting. Ever fond of the minutiae of political scandals and juicy criminal cases, local reporters waste little time providing background on Taiwan arcana bewildering even to many Taiwanese. Today if you pick up The United Daily News or China Times, one pesky English acronym will no doubt jump from the pages, ECFA.

ECFA refers to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed yesterday in Chongqing between mainland China and Taiwan. Over the past year ECFA has garnered about as much attention in Taiwan as a presidential election might in the United States - there was even a live televised debate about the agreement between President Ma Ying-jeou and opposition Democratic Progressive Party leader Tsai Ing-wen.

Due to its isolated position in world politics, Taiwan has missed out on the proliferation of Free Trade Agreements that have come to dominate international trade over the past 20 years. Any time Taiwan’s leaders might express interest in signing an agreement with a country, that country's leader will get a phone call from someone high up in China’s government threatening reprisal. Unsurprisingly this means while China has 270 FTAs, Taiwan has not one.

Taiwan's economy has remained robust despite the unequal tariffs heaped upon its exports. But to many, a new FTA between China and the countries of ASEAN proved too threatening to Taiwan’s economy not to take action. So in the hopes of retaining competitiveness and opening the door to FTAs with other countries down the line, Ma Ying-jeou's administration entered into talks with the Mainland over ECFA.

Though many studies indicate the agreement will do wonders for Taiwan’s economy - the relaxing of tariffs by the mainland on some 500 goods worth US$13.8 billion dollars certainly lends credence to these claims - the opposition Democratic Progressive Party has accused Ma of cozying a little too close to the mainland. The secrecy with which the negotiations were carried out and the rejection of a country-wide referendum on the agreement they say are proof of Ma’s insidious intent.

Despite a 40,000 person protest this weekend with Taiwan’s “father of democracy” Li Teng-hui joining Tsai and other DPP bigwigs to take swipes at the KMT, the first stage of the agreement has been signed with further steps to come pending approval in the legislature. Although that closes a chapter in the political cycle, it also opens a new one, and debate will no doubt rage on about the impact of ECFA, how it will effect this year’s mayoral elections, and whether or not it will mean new FTAs for Taiwan.

To get a front row seat to this rhubarb, all you have to do is open a paper. And for a real good time, read the editorial section of The Liberty Times and then that of The China Times. You’ll no doubt pick up a few useful chengyus to employ against that bigoted interlocutor whose politics are simply too boorish for the 21st century.