The New Power Party (NPP) remains undecided about joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday, even as the party moved to mend fences with opponents of liberal free-trade agreements.
He made his remarks at a forum marking the second anniversary of the Sunflower movement. The forum was organized by the Economic Democracy Union, a consortium of nongovernmental organizations which played a central role in organizing initial opposition to the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Relations between the NPP and the union have been tense, with yesterday’s event the first to invite NPP representatives following January’s elections.
The Economic Democracy Union supported the Social Democratic Party-Green Party Alliance as it pointedly refused to invite NPP representatives to its events prior to the elections.
“I have to honestly say that the NPP is not prepared to take a position yet, because we are still in the process of gathering information and evaluating the agreement,” Huang said.
He said he also could not discuss his “attitude” toward the agreement because he had not finished reading through its full text.
He emphasized the common ground the NPP and civil activists share, citing a dedication to passing a “civil society” version of supervisory articles governing trade agreements with China.
“The core demand of the Sunflower movement was for the passage of supervisory articles prior to the approval of the cross-strait service trade agreement, but while the deal was stopped, the supervisory articles have yet to be passed. The NPP and its many friends in nongovernmental organizations hope to finish institutionalization in accordance with the spirit of a civil society version of supervisory articles,” he said.
While the NPP’s version of the articles has changed references to “Taiwan” to “our country” to bring the articles in line with the party’s charter, the change and other adjustments were all minor, Huang said, adding that it closely mirrors the “civil society” version.
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