The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and 50 pro-independence groups yesterday launched a referendum drive against the government’s proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, vowing to stop President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in his tracks.
TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) told a press conference that the party would arrange 24 locations nationwide to collect signatures for the petition. He called on the public to stand up and express their opinions on this important issue.
“A referendum on the ECFA proposal is the last chance to defend Taiwan’s democracy. President Ma has said he is not qualified to be president of the nation if the ECFA is not signed. Let us not allow him to be the president,” Huang said.
PHOTO: CNA
He said the referendum would ask voters to state “whether they agree that the government should sign an economic agreement with China.”
While saying that the statement was clear and simple, Huang said he believed the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee had no reason to refuse the referendum proposal.
He said that once the TSU has completed the first phase and gathered 86,000 signatures, the petition would be sent to the government for review, meaning the proposal would be entered legally and the ECFA, if signed, would not take effect until the referendum was completed.
The action marks the TSU’s second referendum drive, following one last year conducted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that was rebuffed by the committee despite having passed an initial Central Election Commission review.
The committee turned down the petition on the grounds that it was based on a hypothetical situation that did not meet the criteria set out in the Referendum Act (公投法).
DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) told a press conference that the party fully supported the measure, adding that the DPP would motivate party officials and members to promote the petition, and hoped that the first stage could be completed in a month.
Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) criticized the ECFA, saying it would belittle Taiwan’s sovereignty and harm Taiwan’s interests.
“As a responsible head of the nation, Ma should adopt the WTO model and try to sign a free-trade agreement [FTA] with China, not belittle the nation by accepting the model for Hong Kong’s Closer Economic Partnership Arrangements,” Lu said.
She accused Ma of neglecting his duties as president.
“Ma has said other countries would sign FTAs with Taiwan after the country signs the ECFA with Beijing, but in fact there is no chance for Taiwan to sign FTAs with other countries once the economic pact with Beijing is signed,” she said.
Former US diplomat John Tkacik said he had observed that countries in Southeast Asia had not profited after they signed FTAs with China. Farmers in Thailand thought their products would be exported to China under such an economic treaty, but after it was approved Thailand’s markets were flooded with Chinese agricultural goods.
Tkacik also added his concerns that Taiwan might become a special administrative region of China, and Taiwan’s sovereignty and survival would be seriously challenged if the country signed the ECFA with Beijing.
Former presidential advisor Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏), World United Formosans for Independence chairman Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂), and head of the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance, Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文) also attended the press conference.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS