President Ma Ying-jeou has urged the opposition party to set aside politics and work with the ruling party to pass a bill that would create a supervision mechanism for agreements with China. At a press conference on Monday, Ma said Taiwan should focus on what is in the best interests of the nation and its people.
Ma spoke about an editorial that was in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month, titled "Taiwan Leaves Itself Behind". He said that maintaining barriers to trade with China cannot solve problems, and that it will only hurt Taiwan.
“It is a fact that [Taiwan] and China have a trade relationship," said Ma. "So it’s impossible to stop people from investing in the Chinese market, or to withdraw from the Chinese market. Even the Wall Street Journal said that this would hurt Taiwan. So we should sign agreements with China and let other countries know that Taiwan is open to all countries in the world, not just China.”
In March, the ruling KMT attempted to push a trade-in-services agreement with China through the legislature. That sparked protests, which led to an occupation of the legislative building by student demonstrators. The occupation ended only after the government promised to establish a law that subjects future cross-strait negotiations to stricter oversight. But that new legislation has also been stalled in the legislature because of partisan politics.