The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday dismissed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) accusation of selling out Taiwan in the fourth round of cross-strait negotiations and urged her to offer evidence of the government damaging Taiwanese sovereignty.
“We urge Ms. Tsai to give solid evidence and show which of the four major issues in the cross-strait negotiations sell out Taiwan. Which issue damaged the nation’s sovereignty?” KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said at KMT headquarters.
Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) are scheduled to sign agreements today covering fishing industry cooperation, quality checks of agricultural products and cross-strait cooperation in standardized inspections.
The two sides will also “exchange opinions” on an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), which President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said the government hopes to sign with Beijing next year.
The DPP said Ma’s intended trade deal would flood Taiwan with cheap Chinese products, make Taiwan more reliant on China and prompt massive job losses.
“Our president has turned blind to the possibility that jobs will be lost” after signing the ECFA with China, Tsai told protesters on Sunday.
PHOTO: SU CHIN-FENG, TAIPEI TIMES
“We oppose the Ma government striking any under-the-table deal with China,” DPP spokesman Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said yesterday. “Right now many agreements with China are not monitored by the legislature nor approved by the people, and they could hurt Taiwan’s economy and cost many jobs.”
Lee brushed off the DPP’s criticism against the government’s non-transparency in its policy-making decision process on cross-strait issues and challenged Tsai Ing-wen for also failing to disclose the contents of negotiations during her tenure as chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council.
The KMT also urged the DPP to offer “alternative plans” to an ECFA if they oppose signing one.
“Has the DPP ever signed any FTAs [free-trade agreements] with the US, the European Union or ASEAN countries?” Lee said.
Lee dismissed Tsai Ing-wen’s claim that Ma refused to communicate with opposition parties and urged her to not “distort” the truth.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP
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