Taipei, Taiwan – Eleven years ago, Rex How, writer, publisher, translator, editor, and then-cultural adviser to the Kuomintang (KMT) government of President Ma Ying-jeou, made a decision that would change the direction of his own life, and the future of Taiwan.
On June 20, 2013, How posted a letter on social media alerting the Taiwan public to the planned closed-door signing of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA), a free trade deal that would open up Taiwan’s service industry – which represents about 70 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) – to Chinese investment.
