CHINA TIMES:

Connecting regional and international trade through cross-strait negotiation

The theme of the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore -- Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region -- has brought home the message that regional trade integration is an inevitable trend.

The impetus in the region to increase trade and economic integration was stronger than in the past, and China was considered to be the locomotive that will lead the region out of its economic doldrums.

Faced with the trend, U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S.

will join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) , which now groups Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Brunei.

Besides the United States, three other countries -- Peru, Australia and Vietnam -- are also in talks with the TPP.

After Obama's remarks, countries in the Asia and Pacific region will be more interested in joining the group, and the TPP could evolve into a free trade zone covering all 21 members in the APEC.

To prevent the nation from being marginalized, Taiwan must step up its efforts to actively take part in the regional trade integration process.

With the warming of cross-trait ties, Taiwan now has the opportunities to solicit such participation. After the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement with China, Taiwan's talks with other nations on free trade agreements will be facilitated.

As more trade blocks are formed, if Taiwan cannot find a way to join them, its space for survival will be further squeezed.

UNITED DAILY NEWS: Educators totally responsible for students' problem

Education Minister Wu Ching-ji said Professor Hung Lan's recent criticism of medical students at National Taiwan University (NTU) "hit the nail on the head" in exposing Taiwanese college students' lack of seriousness in their studies compared with the diligence of their Chinese counterparts.

But a few days later, as NTU President Lee Si-chen was urging the students to address the criticism squarely in a speech during the school's 81st founding anniversary, the students responded by dozing off, eating, and even toying with their game players.

The public has responded enthusiastically to Hung's criticism, and we would like to focus on words that might have been overlooked.

Hung said that "if you don't want to study, you should yield your seats to others," which we believe was quite severe.

Former U.S. president Bush advocated leaving no child behind in his educational reform program, while Taiwan's educators have said that "every child must be educated, " and we believe that they share the conviction that we should not "give up" on students easily.

We know that NTU medical students are considered the cream of the crop, and they enjoy the nation's valuable resources. As the public has high expectations of them, it is a pity if they squander the precious opportunities they are afforded.

Now that the issue of student ethics is being highlighted, we believe education authorities must take a more active attitude in seeking a very "pointed" solution to the problems.

LIBERTY TIMES:

How can President Ma still have heart to campaign?

We believe that Taiwan is facing stark challenges due to the changing global political and economic situation, but what has President Ma Ying-jeou been doing recently? One day after he became the ruling Kuomintang's chairman Oct. 17, he began a hectic campaigning schedule. We know that it will be his focus until the Dec. 5 local chief elections.

As he makes a series of campaign promises along the way, we want to ask where he has led our country? We have seen him fail to realize his 6-3-3 campaign promise last year, meaning an economic growth rate of six percent, raising the per capita income to US$30,000 and reducing unemployment rate to three percent. So what's the point of his trying to make more promises on the campaign trail? He has touted himself for his diplomatic truce, saying that Taiwan's relations with China and the United States have never been so good.

But the fact was that Taiwan's envoy was excluded from a meeting on climate change at the Asia and Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal leadership meeting in Singapore last weekend, a meeting that was attended by 19 representatives, including those from the United States and China.

Ma has spent most of his time and energy stumping for the ruling Kuomintang's (KMT's) candidates. The five municipalities, which account for half of the nation's population, will not join the year-end election. Only 17 cities and counties, of which 14 are ruled by the KMT, will hold elections. So why is he making it his priority.

This country is pathetic, because only elections remain as the meaning of democracy.

APPLE DAILY:

Signing financial MOU amid caution

Taiwan and China inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in financial supervision Monday. China signed the pact quickly because it saw the slipping popularity of President Ma Ying-jeou.

To save Ma, Beijing needed to sign the MOU and, in the future, reach an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) and give the impression of bilateral parity by addressing the two sides only as "Taiwan" and "the mainland." Just as Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Sean Chen said, the MOU has given Taiwan a ticket to the game, but to get a better seat, it will have to rely on the ECFA.

The MOU helps pave the way for banks from both sides to open branches in each other's territories. The immediate beneficiary will be financial shares in Taiwan's stock market, but many wonder if the benefits of Taiwan's banks entering China will outweigh the negatives.

Some have misgivings that Taiwan's banking sector is more open than China's and foreign capital can move freely in and out of Taiwan's bourse. Foreign banks also face few restrictions in its underwriting business. This freedom is in sharp contrast to China's many restrictions on foreign capital movement and underwriting activities.

The brighter side is that Taiwan's life insurance, securities and banking sectors will be allowed to tap new frontiers in China and strengthen their international competitive edge.

(By Lilian Wu)