Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen said in a debate Sunday that the public's sense of insecurity over a proposed trade pact with China was not 'something the DPP could create,' after her party was accused of being only good at scaring the people over the deal. In a highly anticipated debate on the economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) Sunday, President Ma Ying-jeou charged that the DPP was behind much of the negative impression people had of the controversial pact. Citing a DPP estimate on the number of white-collar workers who would be adversely affected by the ECFA that went from 3.21 million on April 6 to 5.9 million five days later, Ma asked if Tsai wanted to use public sense of insecurity to intimidate people for political ends and election gains. Moreover, as noted experts such as Michael Porter and Paul Krugman and foreign investors think that the merits of signing the ECFA are bigger than the disadvantages, Ma asked why the DPP has often had more pessimistic views. 'The DPP has always talked about going global, but why has it deliberately left out China?' Ma asked. In response, Tsai said the public's insecurity does in fact exist and was not something that a party could create. The DPP is a poor party and does not have the ample administrative resources of the KMT, so that it can only reflect and voice the deepest anxieties of the people. 'Not only the green camp led by the DPP, but between 40 and 50 percent of those in the pro-blue camp led by the KMT have had a sense of anxiety about Taiwan's future in public opinion polls conducted by the DPP,' she said. In fact, since President Ma assumed his office, he has never stood up for Taiwan's sovereignty, Tsai said. Moreover, in negotiations with China and the United States, the Ma administration has never strongly defended its position, leaving the public feeling it does not have a 'president they can trust, ' Tsai said. She said the public has not seen the ECFA's early harvest list, and the biggest issue is that the administration has never honestly addressed the issue, either by explaining the possible downside of the trade pact or releasing its internal assessments on the agreement. Tsai said the DPP was by no means trying to intimidate the people by trying to inflate the number of white-collar workers impacted by the ECFA, saying that the party had to adjust the number because it had to include those whose salary will not increase. Although Ma noted that scholars and foreign investors support the inking of the ECFA, Tsai said that as a president, Ma should consider himself as somebody of a different status and responsibility, not an economics master. 