If global turmoil continues to drag down Taiwan's economy, he says, it may stay in the doldrums.
An incremental approach, officials say, is needed because an immediate FTA would be too disruptive to Taiwan's economy.
It even questions whether Beijing will use closer cross-strait economic ties to partially lock Taiwan's economy into a "China cage" and force it to accept "authoritarian rule".
Taiwan's economy is strong, girded with countless, innovative entrepreneurs.
Taiwan's economy is one of the world's strongest, with tens of thousands of agile entrepreneurs giving it a resiliency and spirit of innovation that other Asian powerhouses such as Japan and South Korea still lack.
First, it is, as befits a sop to public opinion, a good one for Taiwan's export-oriented economy (see article).
The 13th largest economy in the world, Taiwan packs a powerful punch economically and politically.
CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek | From Our Correspondent | Lee Teng-hui
The Taiwan government said in August that the economy was entering a recession for the first time in a quarter of a century.
It was 2005, and Morris Chang, at age 74, had earned his retirement: the global economy had bounced back from a postmillennial downturn, and his Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC, was back leading a wave of change in the electronics industry.
Taiwan cannot afford to procrastinate if it wants to stay ahead of the Chinese economy.
Taiwan is also trying to figure out how to benefit from China's growing economy without getting stung by its political system, or flooded with RMB.
The benchmarks are dominated by very mature sectors of the economy with two-thirds all in the BRICs, South Korea and Taiwan and about half of that in the energy, materials and financials sectors.
One semiconductor industry leader, Morris Chang, who is the chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd . ( TSM), just recently painted a very dismal outlook not only for the economy but for the semiconductor industry.
应用推荐