The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will step up its protests against the upcoming cross-strait talks in Taichung, with various demonstrations planned for Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 in addition to a march and rally next Sunday, DPP officials said.
The DPP reached the decision on Friday, one day after the itinerary for the fourth round of talks between Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) was made public.
The itinerary released by the Mainland Affairs Council showed that Chen will arrive in Taichung on Dec. 21 and meet with Chiang on Dec. 22 to sign four cross-strait agreements regarding fishing crew coordination, agricultural quarantine inspections, industrial product standards, inspection and certification, and the avoidance of double taxation. In anticipation of Chen’s visit, the DPP had earlier announced a march on Dec. 20 in Taichung City to protest the proposed signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The DPP decided on Friday that the protest campaign will be extended to cover the first three days of Chen’s stay in Taichung to highlight the “unreasonableness” of the Chiang-Chen talks, party officials said.
Among the many protest ideas raised by party members were flash mobs and having 50 model planes hovering over the venue, they said, adding that further discussions would be held to finalize the details of the planned protests.
Meanwhile, expressing concerns about the DPP’s planned action, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) politicians in Taichung urged the DPP to ensure the protests are not violent so that the talks can proceed smoothly.
Chang Hung-nien (張宏年), speaker of the Taichung City Council, said the DPP should take the event in stride because it is intended to address economic issues and would not touch upon political subjects.
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
RSS