The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will hold a mass rally in Taichung City on Dec. 20 to protest against the fourth round of negotiations between Taiwan and China, DPP officials said yesterday.
The fourth round of talks between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) will take place in Taichung next month. The government has yet to announce the exact date and venue for the meeting.
The DPP said the protest would allow people to express their views about the government’s plans to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The DPP said the protest will serve to express disapproval against the “closed door” style of negotiations adopted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) came to power last year.
Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), a senior DPP official, said that as the largest opposition party in Taiwan, the DPP must demonstrate the full force of Taiwanese people’s opposition to an ECFA.
Chen said the details of the protest — such as its size and location, would be decided after the Dec. 5 local government elections. The elections are seen as a gauge of public opinion about the ruling party’s and Ma’s policies to promote closer ties with China.
Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), another DPP official, said that as signing an ECFA would hurt various industries and groups in Taiwan, the DPP should make it an international issue and let the international community understand there is a different point of view on the matter.
Supporters of an ECFA, including Ma, have said it is necessary to ensure Taiwan does not lose out as China forms free-trade pacts with other countries.
Earlier this month, Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said the government would take all necessary security measures to make sure that the SEF-ARATS negotiations are held without disruption.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS