The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday it had proposed holding rallies on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 in Taipei City to protest against the upcoming visit of Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.
Chen is scheduled to arrive in Taipei next Monday for a second round of cross-strait talks.
The proposed rallies would come hot on the heels of a demonstration on Saturday against Chen’s visit, a perceived lack of government action concerning imports of melamine-tainted milk and the “incompetence” of the government.
PHOTO: CNA
The DPP, which co-hosted Saturday’s rally with the Taiwan Solidarity Union and a number of pro-localization groups, said that more than 600,000 people attended the rally. The DPP said it was a success and that it would use “people power” to express its opposition to Chen’s visit and the government’s China-friendly policies.
“Saturday’s rally was a great success as it clearly expressed the five main appeals: No hollowing out sovereignty, no incompetent governance, no ‘one China’ market, no tainted products and no acceptance of Chinese academic degrees,” DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said.
The focus of the rally was not affected by former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) participation, he said.
The DPP has been put in an awkward position in its relationship with Chen Shui-bian, who was implicated in an alleged money-laundering case.
Some members have suggested the party distance itself from him to stress party integrity and reform, while others worry that doing so would draw ire from its core supporters, most of whom are Chen Shui-bian diehards.
Dozens of people who attended Saturday’s demonstration spent the night on Ketagalan Boulevard — the site of the rally — and continued a sit-in protest yesterday, holding banners and chanting slogans.
Police watched the activity but did not make any attempts to force them to leave as the road permit obtained by the event-organizers allowed the crowd to stay until 10pm last night.
The DPP said the proposed rallies on next Monday and Tuesday would be held in front of Taipei Main Station, but that details were still being discussed.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in a press statement yesterday that “the tremendous rally showed that Taiwanese identity still existed.”
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said on Saturday evening that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would be very happy to talk about combating violence, fighting corruption and other economic issues with Tsai.
Tsai said Ma’s response was an attempt to shift the focus away from people’s resentment of his policies.
“I regret that Ma’s first response was disappointing,” Tsai said. “We have to continue to take to the streets.”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus said yesterday that the DPP failed to show its opposition to “violence” and “corruption” during Saturday’s rally.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) told a press conference that cheering for Chen Shui-bian during the event showed that he had won a “victory” over the public’s “anti-corruption” movement.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
RSS