President Chen Meets with U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Grant D. Aldonas
Taipei, April 11 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday that Taiwan, Japan and the United States should sign bilateral free trade agreements among themselves to protect their common interests and maintain regional security, which comes with "economic security."
Chen further said in a meeting with visiting U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Grant D. Aldonas that the trade accords should be inked to prevent the three countries from becoming "excessively drawn toward" the mainland Chinese market.
Meanwhile, Chen went on, his government has adopted a new "active liberalization with effective management" policy on investments in mainland China because the previous "no haste, be patient" policy merely banned certain investment categories without actually trying to manage them, which he said endangered Taiwan's economic security.
The new policy considers mainland China as a part of the global market while promoting an "investment first, economy first and Taiwan first" principle, Chen added.
The president explained to Aldonas that Taiwan will pursue liberalization and globalization, developing itself into an R&D innovation hub, a high value-added manufacturing hub and a global operational logistics hub.
To become an R&D innovation hub, Chen went on, Taiwan will enhance its protection of intellectual property rights and work together with the United States to fight against piracy.