International factors such as the European debt crisis and Korean Peninsula tension will not hobble Taiwan's economy for long, Vice President Vincent Siew said Tuesday. Share prices on the local bourse closed more than 3 percent lower that day over unfavorable international factors, including the new wave of saber-rattling between South and North Korea and the latest debt crisis plaguing southern European countries. 'All these are just short-term elements that will not adversely affect Taiwan's economy for long, ' said Siew, who was head of Taiwan's top economic policy planning agency -- the Council for Economic Planning and Development -- between 1993 and 1994. Siew told reporters that 'members of the European Union dare not let the euro fall freely until it collapses without implementing any rescue measures.' However, the debt crisis will demand a delay in the EU's schedule for suspending its economic stimulus measures that were put into force in the wake of the 2008 world financial meltdown, and could even lead to a reinstallment of the measures, he said. On the tension on the Korean Peninsula that intensified after an international civilian-military investigation team determined last week that a North Korean torpedo caused the massive blast that sank the South Korean vessel the Choenan March 26 in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors, Siew predicted that it will soon 'cool down' after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pledged to seek to address the tension through diplomatic channels. Turning to Taiwan's economic prospects, Siew said the country's per capita gross national product (GDP) has been stagnant at around NT$17,000 for some time and that 'it would be difficult for Taiwan to increase its per capita GDP if it fails to turn its economy from an OEM-manufacturing model to an innovative one.' In particular, he went on, Taiwan should regard China as a 'consumer market' rather than a 'world factory' in line with the latest wave of globalization and market liberalization that began following China's admission to the World Trade Organization in 2001. According to Siew, signing a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China is a necessary choice that Taiwan has to make to cope with globalization. 'The China pact will put Taiwan in a formidable position, although it is not a panacea,' the vice president said. The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou hopes to sign the ECFA next month, but the bid is being strongly opposed by the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which argues that the pact would make Taiwan overly dependent on China and undermine the country's sovereignty. 