A group of about 1,000 people yesterday protested in Kaohsiung’s Labor Park against China’s proposal to implement a “one country, two systems” framework in Taiwan.
The march, organized by Citizen Front Taiwan, also protested Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s (韓國瑜) visits last month to China’s liaison offices in Hong Kong and Macau.
Critics said the visits were inappropriate and suggested that Han accepts China’s “one country, two systems” model.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The protesters shouted “Today Hong Kong, tomorrow Taiwan” and “Reject ‘one country, two systems,’ resist Chinese annexation” and other slogans.
By visiting the offices and signing a memorandum of understanding on fruit exports with Chinese officials, Han is “returning to the old ways of [former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九)] administration,” Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) told the crowd, accusing Han of “locking Taiwan into a ‘one China’ framework” in the name of boosting the economy.
Ma “placed all of Taiwan’s resources into China” during his presidency, like putting all of one’s eggs in one basket, Lin said.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
As a result, Taiwan’s economy became reliant on China, he said.
“Are we going to go back to the old ways?” he asked.
Han did not give prior notice of his visits to the offices, said Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan chairman Lee Ken-cheng (李根政), who also serves as an organizer of Citizen Front Taiwan.
Photo: Ko Yu-hao, Taipei Times
By entering the offices, Han “cooperated with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ‘united front’ strategy,” Lee said.
Biased information from China makes it impossible for people to access correct information, Citizen Front Taiwan organizer Shen Pai-yang (沈柏洋) said.
National security officials need to act on the “information war” the nation is facing. Many countries are slowly being infiltrated by China, but the most serious case is Taiwan, which is the least able to resist infiltration, he added.
Edith Cheung (鍾慧沁), who in September last year immigrated from Hong Kong, said Hong Kongers only became poorer after the “one country, two systems” model was implemented there.
Real-estate prices went up due to Chinese buyers, and young Hong Kongers, faced with competition from China, could not find jobs, she said.
Charng Mei (常美冰店), an ice cream store in Cishan District (旗山), showed its support by sending 300 popsicles to the protesters.
The Kaohsiung City Police Department dispatched 100 police officers to the park to prevent any clashes between the protesters and members of the public.
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
‘WORLD’S LOSS’: Taiwan’s exclusion robs the world of the benefits it could get from one of the foremost practitioners of disease prevention and public health, Minister Chiu said Taiwan should be allowed to join the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an irreplaceable contributor to global health and disease prevention efforts, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. He made the comment at a news conference in Taipei, hours before a Taiwanese delegation was to depart for Geneva, Switzerland, seeking to meet with foreign representatives for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the WHA, the WHO’s annual decisionmaking meeting, which would be held from Monday next week to May 27. As of yesterday, Taiwan had yet to receive an invitation. Taiwan has much to offer to the international community’s
RSS