Activists from various groups yesterday protested against a visit by the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) over concerns about the negative impact of the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Protesters from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and civic groups followed Chen, who arrived in Taipei yesterday for an eight-day visit, at every stop, including the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Strait Exchange Foundation’s (SEF) headquarters.
“Any cross-strait trade agreement should be transparent, monitored by the legislature and the public and not to be handled by unofficial organizations such as the SEF,” said Chen Ting-hao (陳廷豪), spokesperson of the Black Island National Youth Front, which is largely comprised of university students.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
“We oppose the trade mechanism, including the service trade pact, the soon-to-be-completed trade in goods agreement and the free economic pilot zones. They will only benefit large enterprises and harm local sectors,” he added.
The Black Island National Youth Front demanded that the government suspend the negotiations on a trade in goods agreement with Beijing until the principle of reciprocal and fairness is ensured.
The group’s views reflected widespread concerns by the opposition and various business sectors, which say that Beijing and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration intend to push the service trade pact through the Legislative Yuan as soon as possible and that Chen Deming’s visit was likely a form of Chinese pressure.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
The wave of protests began at about noon, with a group of students, TSU members and Falun Gong practitioners shouting slogans and holding placards and banners when Chen Deming appeared at the airport.
A student broke through police lines and got close to Chen Deming at the exit, but was taken away by officers. More than 100 officers had been deployed at the airport.
Chen Deming was greeted by SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) at the airport, and attended a luncheon hosted by Taoyuan County Commissioner John Wu (吳志揚) while protesters were blocked outside the terminal.
He and his delegation later visited a free-trade harbor zone at the planned Taoyuan Aerotropolis project and the Taipei harbor, and then met with SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) in the foundation’s building, where protesters were waiting outside.
There was a brief scuffle between protesters and police outside the building.
“The service trade agreement was a collaboration between the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] to hollow out Taiwan service industry’s competitiveness,” several TSU members said.
Chen Deming, who has visited Taiwan before, said he looks forward to experiencing the nation’s beauty and great food.
As China continues to open its markets and facilitate the reform of the economic system, he said businesses from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should enjoy more opportunities and create more profits.
While his trip was aimed at promoting economic and trade cooperation between Taiwan and China and seeking cooperation opportunities, the SEF and the ARATS can also take the occasion to engage in follow-up negotiations on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), he said.
“The most important task across the Taiwan Strait is to promote the main items of the ECFA, including the early harvest list, investment protection, service trade, goods trade and dispute settlement. We should continue to work on it,” he said.
Taiwan’s free economic pilot zones, a project under which six harbors and the planned Taoyuan Aerotropolis will be designated as models of liberation, are the focus of Chen Deming’s trip.
Chen Deming’s delegation is to visit Pingtung County and Greater Kaohsiung today, then travel to Greater Tainan, Chiayi County, Greater Taichung and Hsinchu County, before returning to Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市).
Senior KMT members, including former vice president and KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) will meet with Chen Deming during his trip.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said he would also meet with the Chinese official and seek business opportunities for businesses in Taipei.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
A group affiliated with indicted Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) is to be dissolved for monitoring Chinese immigrants in Taiwan, a source said yesterday. Xu, the secretary-general of the Cross-Strait Marriage and Family Service Alliance, was indicted on March 24 on charges of violating the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法). The alliance “illegally monitored" Chinese immigrants living in Taiwan on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Ministry of the Interior is expected to dissolve the organization in the coming days under provisions of the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法), the source said. Xu, who married a Taiwanese in 1993 and became a Republic
RSS