Dozens of activists protested yesterday against a trade pact with Beijing they claim is the result of a conspiracy between the Taiwanese and Chinese governments.
The demonstrators assembled outside the legislature, which is currently in recess, chanting slogans against the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
“The ECFA is a conspiracy of the Ma Ying-jeou administration and the Chinese Communist Party [CCP],” said Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan founder Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), the leader of the crowd, waving his fist in the air.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“If it is as good as Ma claims, then why doesn’t he let the people decide whether or not they want it?” Tsay asked.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union has filed a second referendum proposal over the ECFA after the first was turned down by the government’s Referendum Review Committee. A previous bid for a referendum, organized by the Democratic Progressive Party, was also turned down.
The group pledged to continue the protest over coming weeks as the legislature mulls an extra session to ratify the agreement.
Meanwhile, government representatives reassured the diplomatic corps yesterday that the ECFA would benefit foreign investors by bringing stability to the Asia region.
The panel of officials, however, did not fully answer sensitive questions, such as the political implications of the new cross-strait pact or how the government plans to appease dissenting voices.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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