TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang’s (KMT) presidential candidate said he would prioritize negotiating further trade agreements with China if elected, while the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) said the move would harm Taiwan’s democracy during a televised policy address on Tuesday (Dec. 26).
The KMT’s Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) said he would negotiate further advancements to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a free trade agreement signed with China in 2010, as soon as possible, per TTV. “There are many things that the ruling (DPP) is unwilling to do, so let Hou Yu-ih do it,” he said.
Hou said that after coming to power, the DPP has sacrificed the interests of Taiwanese farmers and fishers by refusing to communicate with China on trade issues. He said that he would begin negotiations on the 12 Taiwanese petrochemical goods that had their preferential status removed by China on Dec. 21.
Cross-strait trade has increased by nearly 13% since Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took power in 2016, and Hou said that despite the DPP’s past criticism of ECFA, the party has “been dependent” on the trade agreement. He said the ECFA negotiations would form part of his policies aimed at improving the situation for Taiwan’s farmers.
Hou said that advocating for negotiation and peace with China meant he had been labeled pro-communist, per UDN. He reiterated a previous stance prioritizing Taiwan’s constitution and said it protects both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
In response, the DPP’s Lai said that the KMT’s plans to expand trade agreements under ECFA ignored the impact the move would have on Taiwan, Yahoo reported. He accused the party of being open to election interference from China and said ECFA was being used to manipulate business interests to sway the election outcome.
Lai said the KMT’s plans to restart negotiations on ECFA’s controversial services trade agreement would mean a large number of Chinese students in Taiwan, and would “lock Taiwan’s economy to China’s,” per Tai Sounds.
Lai criticized Hou’s status in politics as that of an “outsider” and “layman,” and said his policies only reflect those of former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Lai also launched criticisms of the KMT’s legacy and said the party had done great harm to Taiwan.