As protests over the cross-strait trade in services agreement continue, state media in China are also discussing the issue. CCTV aired a program on Tuesday that discussed why voices in favor of the agreement can’t be heard in Taiwan.
Chinese Radio International Chief Editor Chang Bin said that if the agreement is rejected, it is questionable if it will eventually work out.
He also said that if the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ever comes back to power, they need to consider what they would do with this trade agreement that is beneficial for Taiwan.
Chang said the students and the DPP do have stances in common. But there are also different perspectives between the two so one cannot say that the opposition is manipulating the students.
He attributed the protests not to the content of the agreement but rather complicated domestic issues that have fermented. But he said if the agreement is rejected, it is questionable whether it will eventually work out.
As for people in China, he said at this point, they are just watching the situation quietly. But if a purely economic agreement has caused so much fear of China, people are questioning how useful China’s concessions to Taiwan are for cross-strait relations. Even economic issues have become extremely political.