China News Agency, Beijing, June 2 (Reporter Li Hanxue) The Taiwan authorities announced on the 1st that they would jointly launch the so-called "US-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative" with the United States, and claimed that it could be used as a road map for promoting a trade agreement.

However, experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait said that this is nothing more than the comfort provided by the US for Taiwan's failure to join the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" (IPEF), which is not only ineffective but also contains traps.

　　Chen Fengxin, a well-known current affairs commentator in Taiwan, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that the so-called "initiative" has no new ideas or breakthroughs. The announcement at this point in time is a "consolation gift" for Taiwan not to join the IPEF.

　　She mentioned that in the 1990s, there was a "US-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)", which is similar in nature to this so-called "initiative", that is, a "dialogue platform".

Since then, the Taiwan authorities have hoped to gradually reach a free trade agreement through this.

But TIFA has been talking about stop-and-go, which has basically become a means for the United States to control Taiwan.

Whenever the United States is dissatisfied with Taiwan's handling of certain economic and trade issues - such as banning the import of pork containing clenbuterol - it suspends TIFA.

Change to the United States to agree, and then talk.

　　Chen Fengxin said that the example of TIFA has shown that this kind of dialogue platform is ineffective, and its only function is probably for the DPP to promote the so-called Taiwan-US relationship is still "rock solid".

　　Sheng Jiuyuan, director of the Taiwan Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, also believes that the so-called "initiative" sounds like a "forum", that is, the two sides discuss how to cooperate in the future.

There are no substantive goals, let alone substantive results.

　　The so-called "initiative" lists 11 topics expected to be negotiated by the two sides, including agriculture and environmental protection.

Chen Fengxin believes that there are more traps than "beef" in which needles are hidden in cotton.

For example, one of them proposes to supervise public enterprises, but there is no such enterprise in the United States, so it is obviously aimed at Taiwan public enterprises.

Under the current soaring global energy prices, Taiwan's inflation is not serious, and it is related to the fact that oil, electricity and other industries are still public.

If the United States intervenes in this regard, it will put a lot of pressure on Taiwan to stabilize prices.

　　Another example is Article 11, which requires confronting "non-market policies and practices." If the island does not allow genetically modified food to enter the campus, it is a "non-market policy."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has repeatedly determined that this provision is unreasonable, and this provision may mean that the United States can continue to operate on Taiwan's food safety.

　　Sheng Jiuyuan pointed out that the United States is no longer keen on signing free trade agreements with other economies, but focuses on regional cooperation centered on itself.

The exclusion of Taiwan from the IPEF makes it clear that the United States does not regard Taiwan as an important trading partner.

Taiwan's "function" in the United States, excluding the semiconductor industry, is mainly to contain mainland China.

This is the purpose of the high-frequency "interaction" between the US and the Taiwan authorities without giving any benefits.

　　He said that although the Taiwan authorities are constantly trying to get closer to the United States and "de-mainlandize" the economy, in the final analysis it runs counter to Taiwan's economic and trade practices.

In April of this year, the amount of Taiwan's export orders unexpectedly turned black, ending the previous 25 consecutive months of growth, which was obviously strongly affected by the heating up of the epidemic in the mainland during the same period.

As the mainland's economic operation gradually returned to normal in May, the decline in Taiwan's export orders was also slowing down.

The close relationship between the cross-strait economies is self-evident.

　　Sheng Jiuyuan said that Taiwanese companies did not follow the political baton of the authorities, but voted with their feet to actively strengthen economic and trade cooperation with the mainland.

Faced with the general trend of cross-strait economic and trade cooperation, companies know better than the authorities how to choose wisely.

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