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Jimmy Wang’s tiles can compete with the best brands of Europe, but that is of little use to the Taiwanese manufacturer since the most lethal challenge he faces comes from China.

Wang beams with pride as he shows off his ceramic plant in the small coastal town of Kuanyin, an hour’s drive from Taipei, and its Italian-made equipment bought for 500 million Taiwan dollars ($15.2 million).

But when the 50-year-old president of Hiland Ceramic thinks about the threat from the mainland, just 160 kilometers away, he sighs.

“I’m not afraid of competition. But I’m concerned about unfair competition,” he says.

Wang is among a growing number of small entrepreneurs on the island fearing what will happen to their businesses once the Beijing-friendly government signs an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, with China.

Critics fear that the ECFA, a scaled-down trade pact, will open the floodgates for a deluge of cheap Chinese imports, wiping out low-tech industries such as Jimmy Wang’s.

China’s competitive labor is often cited as key, but there are other factors behind the mainland’s export juggernaut.

One example: Taiwan’s tile makers are required to use natural gas, a relatively clean energy source, to meet strict environmental laws, but their Chinese rivals use coal, which is more polluting but six times cheaper than other sources.

There are around 50 ceramic plants in Taiwan, and few are safe if the ECFA becomes a reality.

“At least half of the domestic ceramic plants may have to be shut down if China dumps cheap products here,” said Yu Teh-er, the chief secretary at the Taiwan Association of Ceramic Industry.

Despite protests from the pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party and some local industries, the administration under President Ma Ying-jeou insists the trade pact is necessary.

Without it, officials argue, Taiwan will not be able to compete on fair terms in China — now the island’s leading overseas trade market.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is scheduled to forge a free-trade agreement with China in 2010, while Taiwan’s two major competitors — Japan and South Korea — may sign a similar agreement with China in 2015.

If the free-trade agreements take effect as scheduled, companies from the 12 countries will be able to sell their products in China without paying tariffs, making action a necessity, Taiwan authorities argue.

“Without measures of our own, Taiwan would be in an extremely unfavorable position on the Chinese market,” said a study from the quasi-official body Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research.

According to customs figures, Taiwan’s exports to China, including Hong Kong, totaled $92.6 billion in 2008, accounting for 38 percent of the island’s overseas shipments.

Taiwan enjoyed a surplus of $60 billion in the trade with its leading business partner. Were it not for China, Taiwan would have had a deficit of more than $40 billion last year.

But apart from economic considerations, Taiwan’s ties with China have a political aspect, since Beijing sees the island as part of its territory awaiting unification, by force if necessary.

“The confrontation over sovereignty between Taiwan and China makes ECFA highly political and controversial even if it does not refer to sovereignty directly,” said Tung Chen-yuan, a cross-straits economic expert at the National Chengchi University in Taipei.

But for many businessmen the most jarring aspect is neither the economic fears nor the political worries — but a feeling that the government does not really care much about their plight.

“We have not been approached by responsible government officials to hear our concerns even though the government has said ECFA may be signed early next year,” said Wang, the tile maker. AFP