目前民調數字，藍營的林德瑞29%、綠營的陳明文43%The actual vote will show a single digit support for 林德瑞!
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| 陳明文下鄉座談，提到反對簽署ECFA，以保護台灣。 （記者王善嬿攝） |
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| 中國國民黨候選人林德瑞，拜票也把握機會推銷ECFA。 （記者王善嬿攝） |
候選人提議開政策辯論會
〔記者王善嬿／嘉義報導〕嘉縣立委補選，民進黨與國民黨陣營近日勤辦說明會，其中說明會上最「夯」議題當屬ECFA，雙邊各自表述，爭取選民認同，候選人更提議召開政策辯論會。
嘉縣立委補選，國、民兩黨參選人不約而同選擇以說明會方式，到10個鄉鎮與民座談，向基層扎根，其中最熱門的議題就是ECFA，然而雙方你來我往、各自表述，聽得選民「霧煞煞」。
陳明文：保護台灣反對簽署
民 進黨參選人陳明文陣營就指出，馬政府若簽署ECFA，會為台灣本土農業帶來重大衝擊，雖然現在說不進口中國農產品，然而馬政府屈服美方壓力，進口可能危及 國人健康的美國牛肉，讓台灣人難以相信，兩岸簽署ECFA後，馬政府傾中跟自我矮化的姿態，無法抵擋中國農產品進口的壓力，因此反對簽署ECFA，一定要 保台灣、保嘉義。
林德瑞：簽署可化解邊緣化
國民黨參選人林德瑞陣營則表示，區域經濟整合是各國間趨勢，簽署ECFA，可擴大兩岸貿易及投資，解決台灣經濟被邊緣化的危機。
兩方人馬針對ECFA激辯，然而仍有8成民眾還是不了解ECFA，林德瑞昨天遂向對手陳明文喊話，要求與他及民進黨針對簽署ECFA做政策辯論；陳明文陣營則回應，國民黨是執政黨，民眾對ECFA的疑慮，應該由政府說清楚。
辯論ECFA 馬說假的 III
北社再三邀請 馬英九 吳敦義 顏清標
參與 說明 辯論
Tuesday January 26
Of course no one from the Ma government showed up. Like many other Ma programs, this makes people wonder, is the Ma government flying by the seat of its pants as it goes into secret discussions with China? Have secret deals been worked out beforehand, just like the recent beef import scandal with the USA? Who knows? Will people only find out the truth when it is too late? For photos of the protest, go to the left and click on the side bar listing of "Protest" and then click on that for January 23.
President Ma Ying-jeou spoke with ‘Taipei Times’ reporters in an interview at the Presidential Office on Thursday, expounding on his government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China. He tried to allay public qualms over the proposed pact, while emphasizing that an ECFA would be a crucial lever that would allow Taiwan to sign free-trade agreements with other countriesSome comments about the interview:
Taipei Times(TT): Mr. President, you just mentioned that signing an ECFA is just the beginning. Can you tell us exactly where it will eventually lead Taiwan? ...He did not answer the question. So the reporters came back after a while:
Ma: First, we have to ask ourselves this question: Can we afford not to sign an ECFA? Ten years ago, there were only three FTAs [free-trade agreements] in Asia, but the number jumped to 58 last year. The only two countries in Asia that do not have FTAs [with other Asian nations] are Taiwan and North Korea.
Taiwan has signed FTAs with five of its diplomatic allies in Central America. Although they have increased bilateral trade, the amount of the increase has been small.
So when we sign FTAs, we can do it with our major trading partners, such as mainland China, Japan, the US, ASEAN countries, the European Union, South Korea and Singapore.
However, we have encountered various obstacles over the past years. We launched FTA negotiations with Singapore about 10 years ago, but many factors made the attempt unsuccessful.
TT: So that brings us back to our original question. Exactly where will the ECFA lead Taiwan, if it’s just the beginning?Ma would not answer the question where will ECFA eventually lead Taiwan? He would not say I will turn Taiwan into Tibet. He would not say I refuse to answer your question. He chose to say something without answering.
Ma: First, it will help us catch up with the pace of economic integration in the region. There are 58 FTAs in Asia, but Taiwan has none. We have FTAs with our diplomatic allies in Central America, but we must remove the obstacles and sign more with other countries. The solution is to sign an ECFA with Beijing.
Cross-strait trade in 2008 exceeded US$130 billion, but there was no mechanism in place to institutionalize the trade. If there is such a mechanism, it will not only reduce obstructions to our effort to sign FTAs with other countries, but also increase the ratio of our products in the Chinese market.
An ECFA is conducive to Taiwan, but some local businesses will pay a price at the same time. We have conducted studies on the issue and held countless meetings to integrate opinions.
But it seems all of your questions presume that signing an ECFA will be negative to Taiwan. Do you think it’s better not to sign it?
TT: But Mr. President, you still did not answer our question: Where will the ECFA lead? Will the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] eventually become a free-trade area or form a customs union?I pray that Taiwanese will dump Ma (if he is still around) and choose a president in 2012 who can be forthright. Fortunately, the Taipei Times reporters were persistent:
Ma: Basically, the tariffs will be lower under an ECFA. A customs union is unlikely because both sides will have uniform tariffs. That will be impossible.
TT: So it will eventually be a free-trade area?This is too much for me.
Ma: Something similar to a free-trade area, and that is in the spirit of the WTO. But I want to emphasize the WTO does not require any member to open its labor market and there are grace periods for the opening the market to some businesses.
