‘OUT OF WHACK’:Activists said Taiwan is dependent on China for a disproportionate 40 percent of its trade, and the focus should be on domestic competitiveness
Taipei Times
Date: Nov 22, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
The trade in goods agreement being negotiated with China would benefit large 
Demonstrators opposed to the cross-strait trade in goods agreement yesterday hold up a protest sign at the Grand Hotel in Taipei while negotiations are held inside. Photo: CNA
corporations at the expense of farmers and small businesses, civic activists said yesterday, calling for talks to be halted.
About 20 protesters from 10 different civic groups gathered outside the entrance of Taipei’s Grand Hotel, lining up behind a long black banner condemning the talks. The hotel is the site for the latest round of talks, which began yesterday and are scheduled to conclude tomorrow.
Protesters shouted a series of slogans demanding that government negotiators not concede the interests of farmers and workers, shouting that negotiations should be halted until there was “democratic participation” and “civic unity.”
Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said that based on the government’s negotiating objectives, large corporations controlling the petrochemical, flat-panel display and automotive industries would be the major domestic beneficiaries of any agreement. Any Chinese concessions to the industries would be linked to opening up thousands of new product categories to Chinese imports, he said. [FULL STORY]
