A Chinese mainland spokeswoman on Wednesday denounced Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities for boasting about so-called tariff concessions from the United States, calling their claims "self-deception" and a "laughing stock."
Zhu Fenglian, the spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks at a press conference in Beijing in response to a media query about a recent U.S. announcement that certain non-semiconductor tariff concessions for Taiwan took effect on May 1, which, according to Taiwan authorities, would help enhance the competitiveness of related industries.
"The DPP authorities are kowtowing to the United States at the expense of Taiwan's core industries, development prospects of its industries, and the interests and well-being of its people. The DPP authorities had offered massive concessions, including a promised 500 billion U.S. dollars of investment in the United States and zero tariffs on 4,885 industrial and 1,482 agricultural products from the United States, in exchange for only symbolic tariff reductions. Yet the DPP authorities have the audacity to boast about this and brazenly claim credit. This is pure self-deception. Such moves would neither deceive Taiwan's industrial sector nor its people, and would only backfire, leaving the DPP to reap what it sows and becoming a laughing stock," Zhu said.
Taiwan authorities criticized for touting so-called U.S. tariff concessions
