00:00Taiwan is facing a crisis. That's the message from opposition party leaders.
00:06Guomindang Chair Eric Zhu and Taiwan People's Party Chair Huang Guocang met on Tuesday morning
00:11to discuss how their parties plan to deal with what they say is imminent trouble.
00:19The KMT and TPP hold a slight majority over the ruling Democratic Progressive Party
00:26in the country's legislature. The DPP and the KMT are locked in a mass recall battle
00:33to remove each other's lawmakers for control of Taiwan's chamber.
00:39The opposition leaders say the DPP is more interested in increasing its political power
00:45than in dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs of 32 percent, which have been paused for 90 days.
00:56At the meeting, Eric Zhu proposed several policies, from tariff response measures
01:13to alleviating Taiwan's tourism woes.
01:31Meanwhile, the TPP's Huang is proposing a platform where opposition leaders can come together
01:37to exchange ideas and expertise on how to deal with impending challenges.
01:42We're together with the local government,
01:45we're together with the administration's representatives,
01:48we're together with the employees' representatives,
01:50we're together with the important students.
01:55We're together with a platform to make these voices come together.
02:02Huang also called for Taiwan's ongoing trade negotiations with the U.S.
02:08to include pushing for a free trade agreement,
02:10something sought by past administrations, both KMT and DPP.
02:16The Democratic Progressive Party says it's open to the opposition's ideas
02:20and welcomes collaboration,
02:22but it also pushed back against accusations
02:25that President Lai Qingde is not taking Trump's tariffs seriously.
02:29The DPP threw the ball back into the opposition's court,
02:44saying that it can help with Taiwan's tariff relief
02:47by approving a subsidy for Tai Power, the state electricity provider,
02:52a proposal previously slapped down by KMT and TPP lawmakers.
03:09While all three parties agree that the country needs to deal with the U.S.' tariff policy,
03:14each seem to have different ideas about what that approach should be.
03:18And while the tariff threat continues to loom,
03:21so too does the rift between Taiwan's opposition and ruling parties.
03:26John Su, Ryan Wu, and Leslie Liao for Taiwan Plus.
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