Taiwan's Labor Party condemns 'US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade'

Taiwan's pro-reunification Labor Party on Monday strongly condemned the recent signing of the first batch of agreements under the "United States-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade", saying the act would harm people's interests.

The Democratic Progressive Party authorities did not submit the initiative to the legislature for review in advance, and the negotiation process was completely "backroom dealing", according to the statement issued by the party on Monday.

The DPP also failed to provide detailed information on the specific impact of the initiative on Taiwan's economy and trade. Instead, the agreement was touted as a significant milestone for Taiwan-US economic and trade negotiations, in an attempt to deceive the Taiwan public, it said.

The Labor Party warned in the statement that the initiative would open the door to more US agricultural and livestock products, and processed foods pouring into Taiwan through convenient customs clearance, which would not only impact the livelihoods of Taiwan's farmers and related industries, but also pose a further threat to public food safety.

The statement revealed that the initiative will also involve negotiations on labor and environmental protection, and warned that the DPP would only sacrifice the interests of the Taiwan people in exchange for a paper agreement that sells out Taiwan.

The Labor Party called upon all sectors of society to jointly condemn the DPP's act.