The New Cabinet Heralds a Post-ECFA Era

The New Cabinet Heralds a Post-ECFA Era
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
May 19, 2010

It is the eve of the second anniversary of President Ma's inauguration. The cabinet is being reshuffled because Vice Premier Chu Li-lun is running for Xinbei City Mayor. So far only the chairmen of the CEPD and the FSC have been redeployed. The overall structure of the cabinet will remain the same. Three new cabinet members who were promoted however have financial and economic backgrounds. This includes Sean Chen, incoming Vice Premier. This is obviously related to ECFA, the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement that will be signed in June.

When Sean Chen was at the FSC, he was the prime mover behind the Cross-Strait Financial Supervision Memorandum of Understanding. He is familiar with cross-Strait affairs. He has now been kicked upstairs, charged with integrating and coordinating the financial and economic subcabinet. He has deft management skills and a cool head. He is bold in the face of challenges, and does not get bogged down in technicalities. The opposition DPP is boycotting ECFA with all its might, attempting to incite panic. Meanwhile Beijing is watching Taipei like a hawk. Every step is riddled with danger. If a traditional paint by the numbers bureaucrat were in charge, he would be overwhelmed. But this is precisely the kind of battlefield on which Sean Chen shines. Expect the unfavorable currents before us to subside.

The Chairman of the CEPD has been changed. The nominee announced her appointment "on her own initiative." Former Chairman Tsai Hsun-hsung is modest and austere. A sudden unprovoked "war between two women" erupted, making waves and raising eyebrows. The public knows that for the past several decades the CEPD has been responsible for planning, communications, and coordination. It truly is the heart of a financial subcabinet. If it receives recognition and full support from higher ups, its effectiveness will be unparalled. Its effectiveness however, can create problems as well as solve them. For example, when Hau Pei-tsun was premier, President Lee Teng-hui and Premier Hau trusted CEPD Chairman Kuo Wan-jung implicitly. In response to the new administration's expectations, she established a "Six-Year Economic Reconstruction Plan." The most concrete example was her heroic mobilization of national resources and use of large public construction loans. Thousands of large and small projects remain uncompleted. Her achievements cannot compare with the small scale "Ten Major Construction Projects." Squandering hard-earned tax dollars and misusing national resources left behind a bottomless well of red ink that still haunts us.

Therefore when Chairman Kuo's protege Christina Liu took over the same position 20 years later, it made for a great story. We must learn lessons from these events, and avoid making the same mistakes. Liu Yi-ju is unofficially slated to take over as Chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development. She has a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago. Her professionalism is probably not at issue. She has long believed in a free economy. She respects the market mechanism. She has been sharply critical of improper government intervention in the marketplace. Under her guidance the Council for Economic Planning and Development will probably have a very different face.

This does not mean that the CEPD can rule by doing nothing, allowing the market to go its own way completely. During normal times, the CEPD must anticipate economic trends, remedy market failures in a timely manner, improve the economic environment, and allow the individual full opportunity for development. Our economy is moving away from a long term Closed Door Policy and towards openness and freedom. Cross-Strait trade and economic relations, once bound hand and foot, have now had the doors thrown open. At this critical juncture, the CEPD is seeking the best way to open up our economy. It is attempting to eliminate obstacles in our way, and help the negotiating team obtain the most favorable conditions. It must seize the initiative. The two sides have yet to eliminate tariffs. Many SMEs have potential advantages. With money and talent, their core competitiveness can be given leg up, helping them to thrive and grow. By opening up in advance, the ordinary citizen can avoid being made obsolete. He can get a jump on the vast mainland hinterlands and marketplace, transforming it into a solid foundation for Taiwan's economic development. Meanwhile, by building "special economic zones" he can obtain an advance peace dividend. This will bring people from afar, accelerating the pace of economic growth, and herald the arrival of a new Post-ECFA Era.

In fact during DPP Chairman Tsai's current term, the CEPD took upon itself to formulate a strategy for a "Golden Decade." Now dynamic new advocates of such a strategy are in office. Among them is a Vice Premier even more familiar with cross-Strait affairs. Planning for a Golden Decade should be even more feasible and meet with even less resistance. This may make up for the Ma administration's failure to offer a vision when first assuming office.

The crux of the problem behind the Ma administration's disappointing performance over the past two years was not the premier. Nor was it members of the cabinet. It was President Ma's own stumbling about as he learned from his mistakes. Now it appears that considerable progress has been made. The quality of his administration's decision-making has improved. He is more professional and mature in his use of talent. As long as he shows greater respect for professionalism, delegates authority, speaks and acts with caution, we anticipate better from him.

新內閣引領「後ECFA 時代」
【聯合報╱社論】
2010.05.19 02:40 am

馬總統就職兩周年前夕，內閣由於副院長朱立倫參選新北市長而局部改組。到目前為止，牽動的主要是經建會與金管會兩會主委，內閣整體架構基本上維持舊觀。但包括新任陳?副院長在內，三位受到拔擢的新閣員皆以財經見長，顯然與六月可望簽署的ＥＣＦＡ（兩岸經濟合作架構協議）有直接關聯。

陳?在金管會主委任內就是推動兩岸金融監理備忘錄（ＭＯＵ）的主將，對兩岸事務甚為熟稔。如今更上層樓，負責整合協調財經小內閣；以其手腕的靈活、心思的冷靜細膩，加上勇於任事、不拘泥於形式，面對ＥＣＦＡ這個在內部反對黨全力杯葛、煽動恐慌情緒，對岸則虎視眈眈、步步為營的艱困形勢，傳統的技術官僚按部就班、等因奉此的作法恐將窮於應付，這正是陳?重簷最佳的用武之地，眼前的逆流可望化解。

經建會主委的更迭，由於當事人「主動」宣布，原任的蔡勳雄主委又謙沖樸實，加上無端鬧出一場「兩個女人的戰爭」，因而搞得波濤洶湧，眾人側目。眾所周知，數十年來，經建會負責規畫布局、溝通協調，才真正是財經小內閣的核心，如果得到高層的肯定與全力支持，其戰鬥力量無與倫比。但這種戰鬥力，可以興利，卻亦可以為禍。例如，在郝柏村任行政院長時，深獲李登輝總統與郝院長信賴的經建會主委郭婉容，迎合新掌權者好大喜功的心態，搞出一個「六年國建」，動用全國資源還大事舉債從事公共建設，就是最具體的例證。數千項六年還完成不了的大小建設，其成就遠不能與規模極小的「十大建設」相提並論，但虛擲人民血汗、濫用全國資源，留下一個深不可測的赤字黑洞，迄今遺禍未已。

因此，當郭主委的令嬡劉憶如二十年後接掌相同職位，固是一段佳話，但千萬要從其中汲取教訓，莫再重蹈覆轍。內定接任經建會主委的劉憶如，具芝加哥大學經濟學博士學位，其專業素養應可信賴，而且素來推崇自由經濟、尊重市場機制，對公權力不當干預市場運作的作為痛加撻伐，相信在她主導之下的經建會，應可表現出完全不同的面貌。

這卻不表示經建會可以垂拱而治，完全放任市場自行其是。在平常時刻，經建會即有前瞻經濟走向而預作綢繆、化解市場失靈適時加以補救，以及改善經濟大環境任個體充分發展的基本使命。此際正值台灣經濟由長期鎖國邁向自由開放、兩岸經貿互動自百般掣肘到四門大開的關鍵時刻，經建會不僅要為加緊腳步走向開放的台灣經濟指出最妥善的前進道路、事前盡力消除橫亙道中的坎坷崎嶇、協助談判團隊爭取最有利的條件，更要掌握機先，在兩岸尚未互免關稅之前，一方面選擇有潛力、具優勢的大量中小企業，針對其核心競爭力，出錢、出人，拉他們一把，幫助他們茁壯長大，搶先站在開放的起跑點上，庶可不虞慘遭衝擊淘汰，還可能領先掌握廣大的大陸腹地與市場，成為台灣經濟堅實的依靠；另一方面則藉建設「經貿特區」提前兌現和平紅利，使近悅遠來，加速經濟成長的腳步，迎對一個嶄新的「後ＥＣＦＡ時代」。

其實在現任的蔡主委任內，經建會正銜命規畫「黃金十年」的發展戰略；如今有充滿活力的新推動者就位，其上更有熟諳兩岸事務的副院長督軍，黃金十年的規畫應可臻善美，更具可行性與說服力，彌補馬政府上任以來始終未能提出亮麗遠景的遺憾。

歸根究柢，馬政府過去兩年令人失望的表現，其癥結不在閣揆、更不在內閣成員，而在馬總統自身跌跌撞撞，從錯誤中學習。如今，似乎已可見到相當進步，決策品質已有改善，用人格局也比較專業、成熟，只要更尊重專業、分工授權、謹言慎行，應可寄望漸入佳境。