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110,000 expected as Taipei march goes ahead today

DPP Legislator Kuo Jung-chung displays an enlarged business card of Pai Tien-chih, chairman of Taiwan Agro-Fighters United, during a press conference in the Legislative Yuan yesterday, charging that Pai might be a ``bogus farmer. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Despite frenetic efforts by the government this week to persuade farmers and fishermen to call off their protest about agricultural finance reform, Taiwan Agro-Fighters United (TAFU) yesterday said that it expects the number of farmers and fishermen attending today's march in Taipei will exceed their original estimate by some 10,000.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) apologized for the government's financial reform in his home county, Tainan on Thursday, and appealed to farmers there to drop their decisions to attend today's march. But an employee of Tainan County's farmers' association, who declined to be identified, told the Taipei Times yesterday "We are going to attend the march, since Chen Shui-bian cheated us."

Tainan County's farmers' association Thursday promised Chen that it would cancel plans to attend the march. Eight of Tainan County's 31 towns and villages were reported yesterday to have canceled their plans to attend, but the reality of these cancellations is unclear.

"This is simply an event for farmers and fishermen to vent their anger. The government shouldn't worry so much. It will end peacefully. The government should respect citizens' rights to attend the march."

Yan Jian-sian, secretary-general of TAFU

"We all gave those investigators vague answers, but we are going to the march no matter what," the employee said.

The cost of transporting protesters to the march is estimated as at least NT$20 million. All of the farmers and fishermen attending the march will share the expense, according to TAFU.

One day before the march, the DPP administration yesterday refused to give up its efforts to persuade fewer marchers to attend the rally.

Sources in various farmers' associations, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times yesterday that local branches of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau had made phone calls to the associations "asking who intends to travel to the march."

"This is simply an event for farmers and fishermen to vent their anger. The government shouldn't worry so much. It will end peacefully. The government should respect any citizen's right to attend the march," said Yan Jian-sian (顏建賢), secretary-general of TAFU.

Wang Chi-wen, another TAFU senior official said, "We believe the government has been attempting to undermine our efforts to take out insurance to cover marchers by asking all insurance companies not to take our business."

"It's so strange, none of the insurance companies around Taiwan want to take our business. This is a big amount of money," Wang said.

Rumors that policemen might stop the farmers and fishermen's buses on their way to Taipei have also been circulated.

"This is the year 2002. We hope the government won't play dirty tricks. The sooner we gather together, the earlier the event will be over," Wang said.

The DPP administration is worried that the march could turn violent. It is also worried about its support in southern Taiwan, where farmers and fishermen have been considered some of the staunchest of the party's supporters.

On May 20, 1988, a protest of some 5,000 farmers turned into a riot in Taipei in which numerous farmers and students were arrested in one of the most violent protests the nation had seen in decades.

The main march will assemble in front of the CKS Memorial Hall from 11:30am, and start at 2pm. The event is scheduled to be over at 6pm.
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