In a recent TV talk, Taiwan’s presidential candidates had a big argument about what to do with trade deals with China. The Kuomintang’s (KMT) candidate, Hou Yu-ih, wants to make more trade agreements with China if he becomes president. On the other side, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) thinks this is a bad idea and could hurt Taiwan’s democracy.
Different Views on Trade Pact
Hou Yu-ih from KMT talked about making the Economic Cooperation Framework Pact (ECFA) even better. This is a free trade deal with China that started in 2010. He said the current government (DPP) is not doing enough and that he would negotiate deals, especially for 12 products that China stopped giving good treatment to on December 21.
Accusations and Criticisms
Hou said the current government is hurting Taiwanese farmers and fishermen by not talking about trade with China. He thinks they have depended on this trade deal even though they criticized it before. The current president, Tsai Ing-wen, took office in 2016, and according to Hou, the trade between Taiwan and China has gone up by more than 13%.
China’s Perspective and DPP’s Response
China sees Taiwan as part of its own territory, but Taiwan has its own government. The DPP’s candidate, Lai, said KMT’s plan to expand trade with China is not thinking about what’s best for Taiwan. He also said KMT is using the trade deal to play with economic interests for the election. Lai thinks KMT’s ideas will bring too many Chinese students to Taiwan and tie Taiwan’s economy too closely to China’s.
Comments