Policymaking in Taiwan's Semi-Presidentialism: A Case Study of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA)

Abstract

Under President Ma Ying-jeou, the government of the Republic of China (the ROC, Taiwan) tried to improve the relations with the People's Republic of China (the PRC, mainland China). After the resumption of the cross-strait talks, the exchange and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait that were focused mainly on the economy quickly moved forward, and the cross- strait agreements, including the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), were concluded in rapid succession. The ECFA is a de facto free trade agreement (FTA) between the governments of the PRC (mainland China) and the ROC (Taiwan). There are various studies on the ECFA, but most of them mainly analyze the economic effects of the agreement, or consider its legal position. However, little research from a political point of view has been conducted on the ECFA. Then, this article discusses the features of Taiwan's policymaking processes under its semi-presidentialism by focusing on the policy processes of the ECFA from the perspectives of congressional supervision of the cross-strait agreements. This article clarifies and confirms the complexity of policymaking in Taiwan's semi-presidentialism.

Keywords:

• Taiwan
• semi-presidentialism
• policymaking
• ECFA
• congressional supervision
• the Legislative Yuan

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mitsutoyo Matsumoto

Mitsutoyo MATSUMOTO is Professor of the Faculty for the Study of Contemporary Society at Kyoto Women's University. He received his PhD in political science from Kobe University in 2001. He is the author of A Study of the KMT Party-Owned Enterprises (2002 [in Japanese]). He has also written several articles and book chapters on democratization and democratic politics in Taiwan, including “Presidential Strength and Party Leadership in Taiwan” in Yuko Kasuya (ed.), Presidents, Assemblies and Policy-Making in Asia (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). “Reorganizing the Plutocracy of Political Corruption” and “The KMT's Reform to Power: Ma Ying-jeou and His Election Strategy;” both appeared in Masahiro Wakabayashi(ed.), Taiwanese Politics in the Post-democratization Period: Eight Years of Chen Shui-bian Administration (2010 [in Japanese]).