After a week-long trip around Taiwan dogged by persistent protests, China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) returned to Taipei yesterday to attend the annual Cross-Strait CEO Summit — only to be greeted by more demonstrations.
Although the summit purports to facilitate business relationships across the Taiwan Strait, critics say the meeting in effect allows the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to formulate decisions on cross-strait trade policies while circumventing legislative and administrative procedures.
Three separate rallies — led by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), pro-independence groups and youth activist organizations — took place outside the summit’s venue in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), while more than 800 business and political heavyweights from both sides of the Taiwan Strait gathered inside.
Photo: Reuters
Among the attendees at the two-day event are former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and former Chinese vice premier Zeng Peiyan (曾培炎), who both spoke at the summit’s opening ceremony.
Business leaders participating in the summit include Jack Ma (馬雲), founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba; Sinopec Group senior vice president Dai Houliang (戴厚良); Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀); and Acer Corp founder Stan Shih (施振榮).
Scuffles with police occurred as protesters from a rally organized by the Taiwan Solidarity Union attempted to inch closer to the venue, resulting in TSU Department of Organization Deputy Director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) being taken away by police for questioning.
Protesters from a rally led by pro-independence groups congregated across the street, waving towering flags that measured up to three stories high, emblazoned with pro-independence slogans.
A prerecorded track that chanted: “The communist livestock have arrived; the Chinese communist robbers have arrived,” blasted repeatedly through loudspeakers aimed toward the venue.
Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) led a third rally, shouting slogans that denounced participants in the summit as members of the “cross-strait privileged stratum.”
Lai was joined by members of several youth organizations that blossomed following the Sunflower movement in late March and April, in which students and activists occupied the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber for 23 days to protest the government’s handling of a proposed cross-strait service trade agreement.
With important officials from the KMT and the CCP present, Lai said the summit can be seen as an example of the party-to-party negotiation mechanism established during the KMT-CCP forum in 2005, adding that such an arrangement bypasses legal procedures required by Taiwanese law.
The summit touches on many issues that are still under legislative deliberation, Lai said, including draft bills for the proposed free economic pilot zones, as well as cross-strait cooperation in medical and biotechnological industries.
“By conducting negotiations with Chinese authorities without the approval of the Mainland Affairs Council, participants in the summit have broken the law,” Lai said. “Vincent Siew and [former Straits Exchange Foundation chairman] Chiang Pin-kun (江丙坤) should take responsibility for their criminal behavior.”
The protesters offered organizers of the summit a prop of a “moonflower,” referring to Chen’s remarks last week that cautioned against the occurrence of a “Moonflower” movement — a hypothetical sequel to the Sunflower movement — to ensure that the cross-strait trade agreement passes soon.
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
Garbage and recycling schedules are to vary from Saturday through Sunday next week over the Lunar New Year holiday period. The following collection information is from the governments of the six special municipalities. Taipei Regular service: Sunday to Monday next week. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Extra service: Friday next week. Regular service resumes: Saturday next week. New Taipei City Extra service: Sunday. Adjusted collection time: Monday next week — garbage collection is to begin in the morning and end at 6pm. No service: Tuesday to Thursday next week. Regular service resumes: Friday next week. Note: Garbage can be dropped off at 70
A KFC branch in Kaohsiung may be fined between NT$60,000 and NT$200 million (US$1,907 and US$6.37 million), after a customer yesterday found an entire AAA battery inside an egg tart, the Kaohsiung Department of Health said today. The customer was about to microwave a box of egg tarts they had bought at the fast-food restaurant’s Nanzih (楠梓) branch when they checked the bottom and saw a dark shadow inside one of them, they said in a Threads post. The customer filmed themself taking the egg tart apart to reveal an entire AAA battery inside, which apparently showed signs of damage. Surveillance footage showed
GROUP EFFORT: The number of inbound travelers rose 11 to 12 percent last month, with a significant increase in tourists from Europe and North America, an official said The government aims to attract 9.4 million visitors this year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday, citing last year’s success in diversifying tourist markets. Taiwan last year drew about 8.57 million international arrivals, 72.3 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels. By contrast, the nation had about 18.94 million outbound tourists last year, surpassing the pre-COVID-19 level of 17.1 million. The estimated tourism revenue deficit was about NT$700.9 billion (US$22.22 billion). Taoyuan International Airport Corp expects more than 160,000 passengers to pass through the nation’s largest airport daily during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Saturday. As of Jan. 30, the nation’s average hotel occupancy rate
RSS