Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in downtown Taipei City yesterday, braving heavy rain as they voiced displeasure with the government’s plan to sign a controversial trade deal with China on Tuesday.
Shouting slogans such as “Say no to unification, say no to China,” and “Put the interests of the people first,” the protesters called for a referendum on the trade pact, saying Taiwanese have a right to express their views before it takes effect.
As they marched down some of Taipei’s main thoroughfares, some protesters held signs that read, “It’s a shame to embrace communist China” and “Protect Taiwan, protect our jobs,” while others featured creative homemade props expressing their dissatisfaction with the government.
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration maintains that an ECFA will benefit Taiwan’s export-based economy by giving preferential tariff reductions to a number of Taiwanese goods to enter the Chinese market. Taiwan and China are slated to sign the agreement on Tuesday, with Deputy Chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) saying in Taipei on Thursday that the “two sides are one family.”
However, opponents say the accord will increase China’s influence over Taiwan, and will be tantamount to a first step toward unification.
“There is no free lunch in this world,” said Andrew Chen, a businessman in Taipei, while brandishing a World Cup-style South African vuvuzela trumpet in his hands. “I think Taiwan is getting too close to China and we need to be on our guard.”
PHOTO: PATRICK LIN, AFP
Jason Ho, a graduate student, said that Ma’s administration should not have signed the deal without the people’s consent.
“The public doesn’t even know what is in an ECFA, but it’s already a done deal. This is very upsetting,” Ho said.
Chang Chi-fang (張啟方), 51, from Pingtung County said he farmed grouper fish.
PHOTO: CNA
“Even though groupers are on the early harvest list and I might be able to export my products to China, it won’t be long before the cultivation technology I use is stolen by China. We will all suffer,” he said.
A rubber factory worker surnamed Chang (張) from Changhua County said the trade pact would turn Taiwan into another Chinese territory like Hong Kong.
“Taiwanese have worked so hard to achieve the democracy we have today and we will not allow China to control us,” he said.
Farmer Wu Hsien-che dismissed China’s acceptance of tariff-free imports of some Taiwanese farm products as “sugarcoated poison.”
Among the crowd was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Chthonic, Freddy Lim (林昶佐). He said he did not oppose exchanges between China and Taiwan, but he “strongly opposes signing an economic pact that would profit big business, but be hard on ordinary people.”
“In fact, today [yesterday] is international anti-political prisoner day,” he said. “The UN and many countries have spoken out against political persecution today. China is notorious for its political persecution, but the Ma government said nothing about it today. The Ma government should not negotiate economics with China and give up our democratic values.”
Yesterday’s demonstration, organized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), began at two separate locations in the city at 4pm. DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is also running for Sinbei City mayor, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) led a procession from Wanhua Station, while former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former presidential advisor Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) and the DPP’s contender for Taipei mayor, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), led thousands from Ding-Hao plaza.
Meanwhile, walking in pairs and followed by dozens of taxis while singing songs and shouting slogans, a group of pro-independence advocates yesterday staged their own march against the ECFA.
Although the hundreds of people mobilized by the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and the Association for Taiwan Independence joined the two routes arranged by the DPP-hosted rally, they marched separately.
“The [signing of an] ECFA is a serious issue, but there are too many candidates [for the year-end special municipalities elections] trying to promote themselves on the two official routes, making the rally more like an election campaign activity,” said Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), founder of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan. “We are here to stand for the common public who are against an ECFA.”
The third route organized by the group was headed by 92-year-old founder of the Association for Taiwan Independence Su Beng (史明), who once fought side-by-side with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) army in the 1940s against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in China, but left China years later after witnessing the bloody and authoritarian rule of the CCP.
“You can never trust the CCP, they always try to give you something good to get you into a trap, and then catch you at once when you’re in it — I know it very well, I’ve worked with them,” he said. “Right now, they’re giving Taiwan some economic benefits, but what they really aim for is political takeover. If you don’t believe it, you can wait and see.”
Both DPP-led marches later converged on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office at 5pm, where tens of thousands of people roared slogans including, “Say no to a ‘one China market,’” and “We want a referendum on an ECFA.”
Lee called on voters to reject the Ma administration’s China-leaning policies by voting for DPP candidates in the year-end special municipality elections.
“The Ma administration is pushing for an ECFA even though it goes against the interests of the Taiwanese public,” he said.
“Let’s see victories in all five of the cities [due for election in November]. We must throw Ma out to protect Taiwan,” he said, adding that he believed “Ma lacked the balls” to guard Taiwanese interests.
Saying that Taiwan is a democratic society, Tsai added that an important policy like an ECFA should be decided on through a public referendum.
She pledged to side with the middle class and smaller sized businesses, which would be potentially hurt by the trade pact.
“Once an ECFA is signed, these businesses could disappear — impacting jobs and breaking down communities that rely on them,” she told the crowd, many of whom were from southern Taiwan.
She also vowed that her party would not give up its opposition toward the trade agreement.
Joining her were representatives from labor and farming organizations, who also voiced their opposition to an ECFA, alleging that the benefits would be concentrated within a few large corporations, while Taiwan’s income disparity gap would continue to grow.
Despite the pouring rain, organizers said they still believed up to 100,000 managed to take part in the event, although a significant number of participants were seen leaving the scene after a thunderstorm began at about 5pm, as many of them needed to take buses back to southern Taiwan.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN, JIMMY CHUAN AND AGENCIES
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary