The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) today held a livestreamed opposition leaders summit to discuss major national issues, including US tariffs, political reform and recall campaigns.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) proposed four major responses to US tariff policy, including increasing the amount of the Cabinet’s NT$88 billion (US$2.68 billion) support package to NT$200 billion, while TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the nation should seek to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the US.
“The opposition will give the ruling party its firmest support in voicing our shared demands to the US: Treat Taiwan as its true ally and sign an FTA,” Huang said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Additionally, the government should expand the National Stabilization Fund, entice international tourists to Taiwan and diversify export markets to develop the economy, Chu said.
President William Lai (賴清德) should hold a national conference with the opposition parties and leaders of Taiwan’s counties and cities to prioritize people’s livelihoods and work together to face global challenges, Chu said.
Chu cautioned that while people's attention has been focused on the tariffs, it was just a tool.
The more pressing problems for US President Donald Trump were solving the US' exchange rate crisis and debt crisis, and this could present Taiwan with "serious challenges," he said.
"A major crisis will come in June when US$6.5 trillion in US national debt is due. The whole world is watching whether a US national debt crisis will happen," Chu said.
That poses a real risk for Taiwan's US$578 billion in foreign exchange reserves, of which 80 percent is US national debt, leaving it particularly susceptible to the economic shock of a failure by the US government to repay the debt, Chu said.
Meanwhile, Huang said that the opposition parties would work with civil organizations, local leaders and experts to draft a civil version of an impact assessment from US tariffs over the next six months, accusing the government of failing to properly forecast their effects.
The government should ask the US to treat Taiwan as a democratic ally and push for a bilateral FTA, Huang said, adding that Taiwan must hold firm when negotiating with Washington.
Huang also said it was unfortunate that the president did not respond to his invitation yesterday to attend the meeting.
At a separate news conference, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials called the summit a “political smear campaign” disguised as concern for the economy and the public’s well being.
Since the US tariffs were announced, the Executive Yuan has responded in a number of ways, including approving the NT$88 billion support plan and holding a series of discussions between Lai, Premier Cho Jung-tai (長卓榮) and industry experts, with more talks to come, DPP spokespeople Justin Wu (吳崢) and Han Ying (韓瑩) said.
During Premier Cho Jung-tai's (卓榮泰) debrief to the legislature on April 11, he outlined the expected impact that the tariffs could have on various sectors, but Huang and his TPP colleagues were absent, Wu said.
Although Chu and Huang said they want “unity,” they are using it as an excuse to attack others, Wu said.
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