金溥聰的跨太平洋迷惘

郭都人

《中時電子報》今天刊載了關於金溥聰宣揚美國主辦《跨太平洋夥伴協定》（TPP）的署名報導，全文如下：

金溥聰報告 籲朝野達共識加入TPP

         旺報即時
         張凱勝

2014年01月04日 11:28 外傳美國環保署長本將訪台，但金溥聰返台處理相關事務使得此事曝光，美方因而取消。（中時資料照片，姚志平攝）

我駐美代表金溥聰6日將赴立法院外交及國防委員會報告並備詢，根據稍早送到立法院的書面報告指出，《跨太平洋夥伴協定》（TPP）雖然還沒完成最後談判協商，但隨日本加入TPP、南韓表達參加意願，台灣推案工作更有急迫性，否則將擴大對出口市場衝擊，影響未來經濟發展。朝野應該盡速就此達成共識，全力推動加入TPP。

報告指出，TPP是美國「向亞洲再平衡」政策在經濟面最關鍵環節。當前12個談判成員國估計占全球貿易4成之多。美國希望藉由設立高標準的TPP，為未來區域內的自由貿易協定建立典範。美國正緊鑼密鼓與各成員國密集協商，希望盡速達成共識，獲美國國會批准。

報告指出，TPP可提供絕佳機會，使台灣得以分散、再平衡對外經貿關係；並可活化提升台美經貿聯結，使台灣維持對外經濟自主性，這對台美都具備同樣戰略意涵。

必須指出，TPP的談判本來鐵定完成於2013年年底。結果，談判衍了期，只好等待今年二月才繼續。

其次，TPP談判的特點是，幾乎所有達成協議的部份都是美國說了算。其他的懸而未決部分則在維基洩密組織大力張揚之下，顯得舉步維艱。

例如：

其一，智慧財產權相關條款。

其二，跨國公司侵犯消費者權益、侵犯勞工權益、破壞環保成果。

其三，藥材專利傷害公眾用藥權利。

更具爭議性的是ISDS(Investor-state dispute settlement)機制。一旦通過，外國投資者與地主國的爭端將由國際仲裁機構處理，完全不顧地主國的法律，隨時隨地讓地主國的衛生政策、環保立法頓成泡影。

最令人詬病的TPP談判特點是其秘密運作過程，以及其昭然若揭的一面倒利美用心。

按目前趨勢，這樣的自貿協定大概只有日本安倍妄人集團才有恬然簽署的動機。當然，越南顧盼自雄，居心叵測，不在話下了。

在人家黑箱之外，連協議的要點與輪廓都無法掌握，金溥聰忙不迭敦促民意代表支持，無乃不可乎？ 

作 者 是 旅 居 北 美 的 業 餘 文 化 工 作 者

圖一，金溥聰

附錄一，

US 'bullying' TPP negotiators to get deal

By Carey L Biron

WASHINGTON - Internal government documents leaked on Monday offer a sombre picture of ongoing negotiations towards a major free-trade area covering much of the Pacific Rim. The area is a key objective for the administration of President Barack Obama but has been harshly criticized by a broad spectrum of global civil society.

While US trade officials have insisted on December as a deadline for agreement on the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a new briefing written by one of those 12 governments suggests that negotiators remain far apart on several notable policy areas. The picture that emerges is one of an intransigent US Trade Representative (USTR) being increasingly isolated in the negotiations.

"[T]he US is exerting great pressure to close as many issues as possible ... However the Chapters that were reviewed by the [chief negotiators] did not record much progress," the memo, reportedly written within the past two weeks by one of the governments party to the TPP negotiations and published on Monday by WikiLeaks, stated.  

The US chief negotiator "met with all 12 countries and said that they were not progressing according to plan. One country remarked that up until now there had not been any perceivable substantial movement on the part of the US, and that is the reason for this situation."

TPP negotiators are currently in Singapore for what has been widely seen as a closing round of talks towards the TPP, which has been seriously debated for almost four years.

The narrative of looming success received additional momentum following Saturday's small but significant agreement under the World Trade Organization, the global body's first accord since its creation in 1995. Following that success, seen as an important fillip for multilateral trade mechanisms, ministers from the TPP countries flew straight to Singapore, where they held talks through Tuesday.

"The latest leaks reveal the USTR continues to bully Asian countries into accepting some of the worst corporate expansions in any international agreement," Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, an advocacy group here, told IPS.

"It's good to see that many countries are continuing to resist these provisions, but it's discouraging to see the US going to the mat so strongly for this corporate power rush. It will be interesting to see whether they do the same for labor rights, human rights and the environment."

No inevitability

The memo's authenticity has not been substantiated, nor is it known which government's views it may reflect. A spokesperson for the USTR on Monday told the media that some elements of the document are "outdated" or "totally inaccurate".

Either way, the document's substance depicts a pessimistic narrative and calls the possibility of meeting an end-December deadline "very difficult" to imagine.

"This leak guts the sense of inevitability about TPP that the negotiators have been so relentlessly building," Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, a consumer watchdog group, said Monday. "It shows, thankfully, how far from agreement the countries are and it puts people in all of the involved countries on notice about just how dangerous this deal would be for them."

The TPP negotiations process has been pilloried by civil society due to its secrecy, with much of the public's knowledge of the substance of the talks coming from leaks such as Monday's.

On the other hand, some of the world's largest multinational companies have reportedly been given prime access to the discussions, and critics have warned that corporate interests have had an irrevocable impact on the broad sweep of the TPP's evolving outline. The US Chamber of Commerce, the country's largest business lobby group, has wholeheartedly embraced the TPP's opportunity, stating it would "pay huge dividends for the United States".

Supporters and opponents alike agree that the stakes are high. If eventually signed, the TPP would provide a blueprint for US trade arrangements for the foreseeable future, and as an open-ended agreement, it could also expand as required.

Still, the newly leaked memo outlines dozens of outstanding disagreements, many substantive and most involving the United States, in at least 15 broad chapters. On several important issues, such as environmental and labor safeguards, it appears that the discussion has barely even begun.

Sovereign investors

One of the most controversial issues appears to be a strong push by the United States to require the creation of an independent mediation mechanism for disputes between investors and states. Such "investor-state tribunals" have been a regular part of bilateral US trade deals since the 1990s, particularly in Latin America, and allow foreign investors to sue governments outside of the national legal system for policies seen as impinging on profits.

US negotiators are now seen as pushing an even more stringent tribunal proposal and refusing to back down in the face of opposition. The memo noted that this is "the most important issue for the majority of members" but complained that the United States "has shown no flexibility on its proposal, being one of the most significant barriers to closing the [investment-related] chapter".

Reportedly, the tribunal proposal is being supported only by the United States and Japan, with the rest objecting to the fact that the provision would apply to "nearly all significant contracts that can be made between a State and a foreign investor".

"Apparently this proposal would go beyond existing pacts in terms of the powers given to corporations, which would apply to contracting in mining, oil exports, public works and more," Citizen Trade's Stamoulis said. "The fact that all TPP countries except Japan appear to be resisting USTR's worst pushes on investor-state disputes is encouraging, but the document suggests the United States is being completely inflexible - to the point of threatening the agreement."

Still, it is unclear whether deadlock over the investor-state tribunal issue could actually scupper the broader TPP talks in which the Obama administration is deeply invested.

"Other countries are still holding strong, but it's an open question how long they will be able to hold out as negotiations shift into the political realm," Stamoulis said. "At the same time, it's clear who is behind the [US] agenda: these large corporate interests. If they don't get their way, they might take their ball and go home."

(Inter Press Service)

附錄二，

As the year draws to a close, EFF is looking back at the major trends influencing digital rights in 2013 and discussing where we are in the fight for free expression, innovation, fair use, and privacy. Click here to read other blog posts in this series.

Negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) intensified in 2013, as trade delegates from the 12 participating countries aimed for (and ultimately missed) a year-end target for completing the sprawling agreement. Although the secretive nature of the negotiations means the public can't really know how far along it is, both leaked position documents and public statements indicate that there are still major unresolved areas of disagreement in the 29-chapter deal.

Stop Secret Copyright Treaties

The biggest TPP story this year was the publication by WikiLeaks in November of the chapter titled "Intellectual Property." Unfortunately, its contents confirmed many of our worst fears: from ratcheting up copyright term lengths around the world, to boxing in fair use, to mandating a draconian legal regime around DRM software, section after section contained clauses plucked from corporate wishlists and snubbed the public interest altogether.

Against that backdrop, it makes sense that opposition to the agreement is mounting around the world. In May, EFF joined activists and protesters in Peru surrounding the round of negotiations held in Lima. As has been typical, neither public interest groups nor concerned citizens were allowed time with negotiators, but we helped coordinate a major petition and rally. These joined actions happening in TPP countries around the Pacific rim, from Japan to Australia to Mexico and more.

In the U.S., opposition has focused on the Obama administrations calls for Congress to grant "fast track authority," thus waiving its constitutional role of reviewing international agreements. If it passes fast track, Congress would instead be limited to a single yes-or-no vote. Under normal circumstances that's dangerous. But in a case where the public (and even Congressional staffers) haven't been allowed to read the agreement at all yet, that's reckless behavior.

We've set up a tool to allow people in the U.S. to contact their legislators asking them to oppose fast track authority for TPP, and people have already used it to send tens of thousands of letters. You can use it to send a letter today. Lawmakers seem to be taking notice: in the past few months, bipartisan letters from House Republicans and Democrats have firmly rejected the lack of transparency around the agreement, casting serious doubt on the possibility of fast track authority.

The year-end deadline has passed, but negotiators—especially the U.S. Trade Representative—continue to play up an artificial urgency to push the agreement through. The secret meetings between the trade delegates will continue into the new year, with the first one set for February.