Protesters in Changhua County heckled President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday ahead of tomorrow’s arrival of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) for a second round of cross-strait negotiations.
Dozens of pan-green protesters accused Ma of “selling out” Taiwan and shouted “Ma Ying-jeou, step down!” as he arrived for a dedication ceremony for a century-old Buddhist temple in Lukang Township (鹿港).
Holding up banners that read “Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country” and “Traitor to Taiwan,” the protesters chanted against what they called Ma’s China-leaning policies and said that “Regional Head Ma” must step down immediately before he destroys Taiwan’s hard-won democracy.
PHOTO: WANG PAI-LIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
A minor scuffle broke out when protesters, led by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) councilor, tried to confront Ma inside the temple. Police apprehended several protesters and dragged them out of the temple.
“Ma’s personal police won’t let me go worship in the temple,” one protester angrily yelled, saying he lost his religious freedom when the police prohibited him and his group from entering the temple ground.
Ma did not acknowledge the protesters and made no comment.
Later, during an interview with a local radio station in Taichung, Ma vowed to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty as the nation’s leader, while joking about placing a bet with the radio show host over whether Chen would address him as “President Ma” when they met this week.
“You [would] bet he calls me [President Ma]? I hope you win,” the president told the radio show host.
Ma said later that he would implement his “three noes” policy in handling relations with China.
The “three noes” referred to no pursuit of unification, no Taiwanese independence and no use of force.
Meanwhile, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday urged Ma to skip the meeting with Chen in order to prevent the country’s sovereignty from being belittled.
“President Ma should not meet Chen if he sees himself as the leader of the ROC. His rank is higher than Chen’s, and the people in Taiwan should protest if he insists on meeting Chen,” Lu told a press conference yesterday after returning from a trip to Mexico.
“ARATS is not an official organization, and President Ma should not act like a daughter-in-law who is going to meet the Chinese in-laws,” she said, adding that Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) should also refuse to meet Chen.
Lu further condemned the government for deploying over 7,000 police to maintain public order for Chen’s upcoming visit of Chen, while calling on DPP members and supporters to treat the Chinese official as a guest and demonstrate a democratic spirit to the Chinese delegates as long as he does not humiliate Taiwan’s sovereignty during his visit.
“We should give Chen Yunlin a chance to see that Taiwan is a democratic sovereignty and that we have our own culture,” she said.
DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that Chen must refer to Ma as “president” if they meet, or Ma must cancel the meeting if he refuses to do so.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS