A group of protesters gathered outside the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday, requesting a public debate with MAC Chairperson Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) over the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China and demanding the government hold a referendum on whether to sign an accord.
Holding placards that read “ECFA horseshit,” “Taiwan is not a part of China” and “ECFA needs a referendum, a referendum is the people’s right,” about 70 members of the Taiwan Referendum Alliance gathered outside the building where the MAC is located.
Chang Ming-yu (張銘祐), executive director of the association, said signing an ECFA would be tantamount to admitting that Taiwan was a special administrative region of China, citing the example of Hong Kong, which signed a closer economic partnership arrangement (CEPA) with China in 2003.
Chang criticized Lai for being reluctant to reveal the content of the planned ECFA and demanded that the government hold a referendum on whether to sign such an agreement.
“We would like to ask her whether it is the consensus of the Taiwanese people that we sign an agreement that will sell out Taiwan’s sovereignty and its economic interests,” Chang said. “We are also curious to know how such a major decision can be unilaterally decided upon by the Mainland Affairs Council.”
Chang said his organization wanted to challenge Lai to a public debate, saying the proposed economic accord would not solve the soaring unemployment problem and an over-reliance on China would lead the nation to its doom.
The crowd dispersed after the council invited alliance chairman Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) for talks. Chang said they planned to return to the council next week to demand disclosure of the content of the proposed agreement.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said it was too early to hold a debate on the issue because the council was still soliciting opinions from the pubic and government agencies.
Nor was it the best time to hold a referendum, he said, because the accord was an economic issue and until its framework was set it was premature to discuss whether its fate should be decided by a popular vote.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS