Taipei CNN —The signing of a trade pact between Taiwan and the United States will play a key role in helping the island counter its diplomatic isolation from China, according to Taiwan’s top trade negotiator. Taipei has described the initiative as the most comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and Taiwan since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. But Chinese pressure is not the only hurdle facing Taiwan’s trade negotiators like Deng, as trade deals could also become a politically sensitive issue on the island itself. In 2014, a controversial service trade agreement between Taipei and Beijing — which was passed by the then ruling Kuomintang — resulted in mass student protests, known as the Sunflower Movement. They opposed it because it would allow meat products containing ractopamine, an animal feed additive common in the United States.

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Persons: John Deng, ”, ” John Deng, John Mees, Deng, Mao Ning, Kuomintang —, —, Will Ripley Organizations: Taipei CNN, CNN, Taiwan Affairs Office, Trans, Pacific, Sunflower Movement, Student Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, United States, China, Washington, Beijing, Britain, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Kuomintang