Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and 2024 presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) has called for restarting negotiations on a highly controversial trade deal with China. The deal, known as Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) would liberalize trade in services between the two sides in areas such as banking, healthcare, and telecommunications.
Ko mentioned restarting the deal while making comments to reporters on Tuesday, but his plan was also mentioned in a campaign policy white paper revealed in May. The CSSTA was signed by representatives from both China and Taiwan in 2013, but the deal was never ratified by Taiwan’s legislature. Concerns about the secretive negotiations over the deal and fears of becoming economically dependent on China resulted in protesters occupying the legislature for several weeks, in what later became known as the Sunflower Movement.
Responding to Ko’s comments, Taiwan Vice Premiere Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) says that Ko is clearly out of step with the Taiwanese people on this issue. Cheng cited Ko’s promotion of the Shanghai-Taipei City Forum while he was Mayor of Taipei City as evidence of this.