ECFA Mirage

Dan Rosen (link here) and others have praised ECFA as a way to boost Taiwan's economy while others-- and not just members of Taiwan's opposition party, the DPP--have condemned it as a threat to Taiwan's sovereignty. I have always suspected, even after the early harvest lists (which were much more generous to Taiwan than the PRC) were announced, that Taiwan would never be willing to open up significantly enough to fulfill the dreams of good neoliberal economists or realize the fears of Taiwanese nationalists. Yesterday's Economic Daily News has an interesting editorial that adds some support to my suspicions. The piece spells out very clearly the KMT government's own reluctance to open up in any significant way despite the PRC's expectations to the contrary.