Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has asked a senior envoy to the Boao Forum for Asia to tell Premier Wen Jiabao that the island is eager to enter into a trade pact with Beijing.
Fredrick Chien Fu, who is on the mainland leading a Taiwanese delegation to the forum, would relay Mr Ma's message to Mr Wen during the annual three-day event, which begins today in Hainan, Taiwanese presidential officials said.
Dr Chien, former president of the Control Yuan, the government's watchdog, had been charged with telling Beijing that the signing of a trade deal, the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement, would be beneficial to both sides since trade between the two was growing rapidly, they said.
Taiwan's Presidential Office said Mr Ma met Dr Chien on Wednesday and asked him to deliver the message. Saying it was urgent for the two sides to enter into such an agreement, which resembles a free-trade pact, Mr Ma said Taiwan would soon be in a difficult position if the two sides did not sign the pact, according to the Presidential Office.
Mr Ma said he was concerned about how the island would manage after the mainland had formed a trade bloc with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He said Taiwan would find it challenging if its petrochemicals, cars and machinery exports still faced import duties of 5 to 15 per cent while exports from Asean members to the mainland were tariff-free.
