Northeast Asia Geostrategic Forum

[TaiShang]

Synergy for BRI, China-Japan-South Korea FTZ amid trade war

By Chu Daye Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/4

Special meaning in era of US protectionism, unilateralism

A China-Japan-South Korea business conference on the Belt and Road Initiative is held in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang Province in May. Photo: VCG

The 10th round of China-Japan-South Korea FTA talks is held in Seoul in 2016. File photo: VCG

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will have a synergistic effect with the proposed trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) among China, Japan and South Korea, as the latter is now on a fast track, Chinese analysts said on Tuesday.

The comments come amid an escalating trade war between China and the US and announced efforts to fast-track the negotiations on the important free trade zone (FTZ) among the three Northeast Asian countries, on which 15 rounds of negotiations have been held.

South Korea and Japan stand to benefit from the further progress of the BRI, which aims to boost connectivity among Asia, Europe, Africa and beyond. Moreover, the participation of South Korea and Japan in some of the BRI projects has expanded those projects' influence, analysts noted.

The China-Japan-South Korea FTA is the most important one being pursued by China in terms of economic size, according to media reports in April. An FTZ among the three Asian neighbors will also be the most important FTZ for Chinese exports.

Officials from China, Japan and South Korea are calling for further efforts to accelerate talks about an FTA.

Chinese analysts said the FTA will have special meaning in a time of US trade protectionism, unilateralism and bullying practices.

"It would be a trade deal among three of the world's top 11 economies, that's its significance," Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wu Minghua, a Shanghai-based independent analyst in the shipping industry, said an FTZ will be a major complement to the BRI.

"So far, the BRI is about looking west. An FTZ among the three countries will serve as an important foothold at the eastern end of the initiative," Wu told the Global Times on Tuesday.

More exciting is the fact that in a number of industries, including shipping, the three countries enjoy a high level of connectivity and have equal development standing, which means that the market can absorb the openness brought by an FTZ with few hiccups, Wu said.

It will also be interesting to see whether the FTZ will enjoy some of the financial arrangements that prevail in the countries and regions in the routes of the BRI, Wu said.

Mutual boost

Nowhere is this cooperation more true than in Lianyungang Port, East China's Jiangsu Province, the eastern end of the Eurasian land bridge and a major BRI port. Here, companies from Japan and South Korea are utilizing the sea-over-land trade artery that goes across the Eurasian landmass to Amsterdam. Their use of this trade route has increased its activity and brought down its costs, helping expand the influence of the BRI, Bai said. An FTA could lead to further development in this direction.

"Given that an FTA can bring down tariffs and facilitate trade, Japanese and South Korean companies can further participate in the BRI," a person at the port told the Global Times on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

Sun Yuanxin, a deputy director of the Research Institute for the Shanghai FTZ at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said that the promotion of an FTZ is brought forward by agreeing on trade rules, while the promotion of the BRI is driven forward by key projects. However, "both are efforts aimed at promoting international economic cooperation."

"In a world of uncertainty and volatility, Asian countries have a unique chance to show the world how solidarity can be achieved through communication," Sun told the Global Times on Tuesday.

This year is the 20th anniversary of a trilateral cooperation mechanism among the three countries. During these two decades, trilateral trade has grown more than fivefold to $720 billion from $130 billion, media reported.
Newspaper headline: Synergy for BRI, China-Japan-SK FTZ

 

[TaiShang]

Japanese Firms Seek New Business Opportunities at CIIE

www.yicaiglobal.com

 

[Suika]

Life is much easier now

Taiwan Residents Welcome New Entry-permit Policy
2015-06-15

Delegates from Taiwan pose for photos during the 7th Straits Forum in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, June 14, 2015. The 7th Straits Forum opened in Xiamen on Sunday. [Photo: Xinhua]


Mainland authorities have revealed plans to lift entry-permit requirements for people from Taiwan travelling to the mainland, in a bid to boost exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.

As our reporter Wang Wei reports, many Taiwan residents welcome the new move.

The pronouncement has been made by lead political advisor Yu Zhengsheng during a speech to a cross-Straits forum in the city of Xiamen in Fujian.

"We are going to provide better conditions for cross-Straits exchanges. At some point we will lift the entry-permit requirements and issue a special card to allow easier access to the mainland for our Taiwan compatriots. I also hope the two sides can carry out more exchanges and communication activities, especially in grassroots areas."

Fu Chia-Hsien is a Taiwan businessman who has been commuting across the Straits for over ten years, and he speaks highly of the new policy.

"It's a very good thing, really great. Since cross-straits relations are getting better and better, we want to regard the mainland as our home in the future."

At present, Taiwan residents need to apply for a visa-like entry permit in order to visit the mainland.

Speaking of his own experience several years ago, a representative at the forum, Lu Ting-Hua, says that the card will definitely facilitate travel.

"I remember a few years ago the bullet train to Shanghai was launched and I worked in Shanghai. But I couldn't get my ticket to Shanghai issued because the railway station staff had trouble in inputting my ID number on the entry-permit to the bullet train ticket system. Now there's a specially designed solution for us. In the near future, with the official card, it will make things much easier for those who come here to study, work, tour or reside."

Cross-Straits exchanges became widely possible after 2008 when the two sides opened direct mail, transport, and trade links.

Official statistics show Taiwan residents made 5.3 million visits to the mainland in 2014, a 20 percent increase from 2008.

Mainlanders made over 4 million visits to Taiwan last year, compared with just 280-thousand in 2008.

Wang Cho-chung, editor-in-chief of Want Daily based in Taiwan, has expressed his confidence in exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

"If we are exempted from needing travel permits to come to the mainland, it means we can come at any time we want. Actually that is a very critical step to show that the two sides across the straits are one family. Through this new policy, the two sides can embrace business and personal exchanges in the future."

Experts say the new policy is expected to attract more and more young people from Taiwan to pursue careers on the mainland.

A poll from the island earlier this year indicated about one third of Taiwan residents aged between 20 and 29 are interested in working on the mainland.

It's been over 5 years since making this sort of "steps towards unification" articles that are in the future tense.

Still hasn't happened.

The longer this thread goes, the less likely it looks because it is always the same old sort of thing... "so and so will increase.. so and so plan on.. so and so is looking into.."

So desparate for this "omg unification is just around the corner" sort of sentiment articles.

 

[samsara]

It's been over 5 years since making this sort of "steps towards unification" articles that are in the future tense.

Still hasn't happened.

The longer this thread goes, the less likely it looks because it is always the same old sort of thing... "so and so will increase.. so and so plan on.. so and so is looking into.."

So desparate for this "omg unification is just around the corner" sort of sentiment articles.

FIVE YEARS in the matter of a nation moreover a civilization means nothing. Human life may be short but a nation has a very long span of time let alone China as the world's longest continuous civilization. Keep open your eyes for the next decade or two... but you may put the deadline just within the first half of this century if you prefer so, for the re-unification of the Island of Taiwan with the motherland, by peaceful or not-so-peaceful means, is a certainty!! The geography of that small island of Taiwan will remain there for good, it won't go anywhere, not even the spinster Tsai or DPP may carry the island away... so the Chinese people will bid their time patiently. At the moment we, Chinese people, have more important tasks to achieve. So be patient and keep on watching...

Btw one must really learn the world history over centuries even millenniums to get the proper perspective and holistic views

@TaiShang -- nice to see you back again in PDF, dude... have good life!

 

[Suika]

FIVE YEARS in the matter of a nation moreover a civilization means nothing. Human life may be short but a nation has a very long span of time let alone China as the world's longest continuous civilization. Keep open your eyes for the next decade or two... but you may put the deadline just within the first half of this century if you prefer so, for the re-unification of the Island of Taiwan with the motherland, by peaceful or not-so-peaceful means, is a certainty!! The geography of that small island of Taiwan will remain there for good, it won't go anywhere, not even the spinster Tsai or DPP may carry the island away... so the Chinese people will bid their time patiently. At the moment we, Chinese people, have more important tasks to achieve. So be patient and keep on watching...

Btw one must really learn the world history over centuries even millenniums to get the proper perspective and holistic views

@TaiShang -- nice to see you back again in PDF, dude... have good life!

Yeah, he'll be updating for another 100 years about how soon unification will happen on PDF no doubt. Unless CCP China falls apart before then.

 

[samsara]

Yeah, he'll be updating for another 100 years about how soon unification will happen on PDF no doubt. Unless CCP China falls apart before then.

Yeah keep on dreaming then that the nation of China will be in tatters... we do know your wishes

The greater the pressure from the external forces to destroy China, the more unified the Chinese people to resist them, incl,. those diaspora with the core in the Middle Kingdom to work together to strengthen the vast land. We simply cannot accept another "Century of Humiliation"... and closing the "Taiwan Issue" is just a natural act to end the huge chapter of such humiliation!

 

[TaiShang]

FIVE YEARS in the matter of a nation moreover a civilization means nothing. Human life may be short but a nation has a very long span of time let alone China as the world's longest continuous civilization. Keep open your eyes for the next decade or two... but you may put the deadline just within the first half of this century if you prefer so, for the re-unification of the Island of Taiwan with the motherland, by peaceful or not-so-peaceful means, is a certainty!! The geography of that small island of Taiwan will remain there for good, it won't go anywhere, not even the spinster Tsai or DPP may carry the island away... so the Chinese people will bid their time patiently. At the moment we, Chinese people, have more important tasks to achieve. So be patient and keep on watching...

Btw one must really learn the world history over centuries even millenniums to get the proper perspective and holistic views

@TaiShang -- nice to see you back again in PDF, dude... have good life!

Thank you Life is good. False-flagged Indians make it more interesting, ha ha.

Taiwan is not going anywhere, indeed. Only that, now, Mainland accounts for a greater portion of Taiwan's external trade. That's what really matters.

 

[samsara]

Thank you Life is good. False-flagged Indians make it more interesting, ha ha.

Taiwan is not going anywhere, indeed. Only that, now, Mainland accounts for a greater portion of Taiwan's external trade. That's what really matters.

I had opportunity to visit the island of Taiwan with my spouse for the very first time, took a group tour in the end of December 2019 and spent 8 nights there and visited those major cities there. The general impression on that life there, just a typical traditional setting of Chinese people life, like those one may find in many Chinese cities in the Asia (I mean cities with predominant Chinese population even in some places in the SE Asia), people's life is okay, more or less prosperous, neat, in order though far from being grandeur... just in commensurate with the scale of that island. The cities in Taiwan are just like most of the 2nd and 3rd tier cities of mainland China. For our sightseeing purposes, well, just so so... nothing particular or extraordinary, even the Sun Moon Lake looks quite ordinary compared to what I have seen in mainland... take the Qinghai Lake for instance, or Yamdrok Lake. But good to have a lifetime chance to look into with own eyes, first hand experiences, now I know even more and cannot be lied upon with the situations and conditions in that island... and it rained a lot in December

 

[TaiShang]

I had opportunity to visit the island of Taiwan with my spouse for the very first time, took a group tour in the end of December 2019 and spent 8 nights there and visited those major cities there. The general impression on that life there, just a typical traditional setting of Chinese people life, like those one may find in many Chinese cities in the Asia (I mean cities with predominant Chinese population even in some places in the SE Asia), people's life is okay, more or less prosperous, neat, in order though far from being grandeur... just in commensurate with the scale of that island. The cities in Taiwan are just like most of the 2nd and 3rd tier cities of mainland China. For our sightseeing purposes, well, just so so... nothing particular or extraordinary, even the Sun Moon Lake looks quite ordinary compared to what I have seen in mainland... take the Qinghai Lake for instance, or Yamdrok Lake. But good to have a lifetime chance to look into with own eyes, first hand experiences, now I know even more and cannot be lied upon with the situations and conditions in that island... and it rained a lot in December

I am happy that you enjoyed your stay You observed well, indeed, Taiwan major cities are no equals with their Mainland peers in terms of modern look and glitz. Except perhaps Taipei, life proceeds without much rush. Overtime, it creates a monotoneus pace if you really setlle down.

Me, as I have been shuttling between Taiwan and Mainland, I miss the one after I spend few months in one. LOL. It is an amazing experience to live in both more settled Taiwan cities and ever changing and restless Mainland cities. As I teach in both sides of the Straits, I also see a similar trait in students, as well.

I see Taiwan life as well suited with its size and history.

 

[Suika]

Yeah keep on dreaming then that the nation of China will be in tatters... we do know your wishes

The greater the pressure from the external forces to destroy China, the more unified the Chinese people to resist them, incl,. those diaspora with the core in the Middle Kingdom to work together to strengthen the vast land. We simply cannot accept another "Century of Humiliation"... and closing the "Taiwan Issue" is just a natural act to end the huge chapter of such humiliation!

Nah, I'm not hoping for it to happen. But it could.

 

[sinait]

It's been over 5 years since making this sort of "steps towards unification" articles that are in the future tense.

Still hasn't happened.

The longer this thread goes, the less likely it looks because it is always the same old sort of thing... "so and so will increase.. so and so plan on.. so and so is looking into.."

So desparate for this "omg unification is just around the corner" sort of sentiment articles.

Wow, not sure you got brains.
5 years in geopolitical terms is insignificant.

It is world shattering feat that China took 70 years from nowhere and under arms embargo to reach a stage to be within reach of challenging the world's sole superpower.

The US is responsible for interfering in the Chinese civil war and have helped protect Taiwan.
So it is the US that China is preparing against in order reunite with Taiwan.
Not a easy task indeed, but maybe its easy for your motherland, the SUPA POWA.
.

 

[TaiShang]

World’s Biggest Free Trade Pact to Bring China, Japan, South Korea Closer to Trilateral Deal, Experts Say

www.yicaiglobal.com

(Yicai Global) Nov. 16 -- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, the world’s largest free trade deal signed yesterday between countries in the Asia-Pacific region, marks an important step towards bringing East Asian heavyweights China, Japan and South Korea one step closer to a trilateral free trade agreement.

After eight years of negotiations, the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have signed a pact to create the world’s biggest open trading bloc. Together they account for around 30 percent of global gross domestic product and 30 percent of the world’s population.

The move is likely to promote discussions between the three major East Asian economies of China, Japan and South Korea and bring them closer to their own FTA, Yuan Bo, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Studies at the Ministry of Commerce told Yicai Global.

China, Japan and South Korea are the world’s second, third and eleventh largest economies. Together they account for over 70 percent of Asia’s GDP and around 20 percent of the world’s total, more than the European Union. So far, due to long-running disputes in the area, only China and South Korea have come to a trade agreement in the past.

The RCEP provides a better basis for negotiation, Yuan said. In a sense, it is the first mutual commitment between China and Japan as well as Japan and South Korea to open their markets to each other and lower tariff and non-tariff barriers, Yuan said.

“As the supply chain narrows, the economic ties of the three countries are getting closer and closer, making the signing of FTA agreements more necessary,” a source from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Yicai Global last year. This will be beneficial not only for the three nations, but also for the whole world, he added.

A China-Japan-South Korea FTA can be now reached using the framework of the RECP. It can be described as a ‘RCEP+’ cooperation, Yuan said.