Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch, second left, and Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin, right, hold a news conference in Taipei after Taiwan and Singapore signed a free-trade agreement in Singapore earlier yesterday.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters

Taiwan yesterday signed a far-reaching free-trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore — the first of its kind with a Southeast Asian country — in a move the government said would boost the nation’s efforts to pursue further economic engagement with trading partners bilaterally and multilaterally.

“This is a milestone achievement for Taiwan’s progress toward economic liberalization and our participation in regional economic integration,” Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) told a press conference at 11am in Taipei.

Ma Ying-jeou, the president of the Republic of China in-exile, has finally taken his place on the stage of world leaders despite Taiwan’s unresolved international status. Out of the murk of strategic ambiguity Ma has emerged as a clear winner in the shoe-toss competition. In less than a year Ma has gone from backstage into the limelight as protestors heave their shoes at Ma whenever opportunity presents.

Ma Ying-jeou’s entry into the exclusive shoe club began last December at International Human Rights Day in Taipei. Human rights activists, angered at Ma over the mistreatment in prison of former ROC President Chen Shui-bian, shouted Ma off the stage at a museum event while one man, Peter Wang, gave both of his shoes and a handbag a toss before he was carried out of the room.