Others are running fast, Taiwan, China draws its sword and looks around!

(Taiwan TB News Network / Reporter Liu Zhicheng) Exports have declined for seven consecutive months. Revitalizing industry and strengthening exports are of course two prescriptions. In fact, the key to the problem lies in the shrinking of the country's "economic territory." If this root cause is not resolved, it will be far from easy to revive trade. "Economic territory" refers to the area in which a country can freely trade goods and services with other countries. Its concrete representatives are the TPP led by the United States in recent years and the RCEP initiated by the ten ASEAN countries. These rapidly rising regional free trade agreements allow signatory countries, through mutual tariff reductions, removal of non-tariff barriers and market opening, to effectively promote the development of trade and investment among themselves.

The TPP and RCEP are regional multilateral trade agreements that the government currently wants to actively enter, but both encounter a common problem, namely that the degree of market opening for trade and investment is insufficient. For trade, it only wants to export and is unwilling to import; for investment, it only wants to defend and is unwilling to open. Therefore, the trade value now covered by signed free trade agreements accounts for only 7 percent of total trade.

Raising international trade and investment standards is the trend in global regional trade. With regard to the TPP, U.S. President Barack Obama clearly pointed out in two speeches to Congress that it is no longer enough to be satisfied with the liberalization of goods trade and services trade; trade-related international and domestic economic activity regulations, including investment, environment, labor standards, government procurement, government-business relations, and domestic technical standards, must also be brought within the scope of regulation. With regard to the RCEP, others strongly demand that, apart from rice, protection measures be fully removed from other agricultural markets.

According to international trade theory, regional trade arrangements have the positive effect of trade creation, but also the negative impact of trade diversion. There are gains and losses, and it cannot be an all-win tug-of-war. At present, public opinion against market opening is running high, and coupled with senseless political manipulation, wanting to enter the TPP and RCEP is truly not easy.

The shrinking of economic territory creates obstacles for industries that want to return home to invest, and also increases aftereffects. South Korea has signed free trade agreements with 49 countries, accounting for 43.03 percent of its total trade; four have been signed but not yet taken effect, seven are under negotiation, and it is estimated that they will ultimately account for 90 percent of its total trade. Others are running fast, while Taiwan, China is still drawing its sword and looking around, not knowing when it will awaken from the dream of shrinking economic territory?