Groups opposed to a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China are planning to hold more protests, with former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday saying he would hold one on May 20, the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration.
With the government’s self-imposed deadline for signing the agreement next month approaching, opposition from pro-independence, pan-green and labor organizations is solidifying with a number of groups promising protests throughout this month and early next month.
A large rally led by pro-independence organizations, but yet to be endorsed by opposition parties, is expected to take place on June 6. However, organizers said the date has not been finalized, citing a possible delay in the government’s negotiating schedule for the ECFA from next month to early July.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Hsieh described the May 20 rally as a “warm up,” saying that a single protest “is just not enough.”
“Since his inauguration in 2008, President Ma has been leading Taiwan in the wrong direction,” Hsieh said, adding that an ECFA would unfairly benefit large corporations and threaten jobs and traditional industries.
Joining Hsieh were former Cabinet secretary-general Lee Ying-yuan (李應元), former DPP legislator Huang Chien-huei (黃劍輝) and Taiwan Association of University Professors president Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深).
The group also promised to hold a smaller event in Kaohsiung tomorrow, saying it would either be a sit-in or a speech at the Kaohsiung Arena to raise awareness against the ECFA and drum up support for a referendum.
While the DPP has not officially endorsed any of the rallies, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday she was not against street protests, but she said any rally must be effective and must help the public understand the severity of the issue.
“Popular movements are a natural consequence of a government that forces through its decisions unilaterally without first reaching a public consensus,” Tsai said. “We expect this to continue.”
Organizers said that while they have not settled on the format of the May 20 rally, it would mostly take the form of a protest or possibly a sit-in.
In response to the number of pro-independence organizations holding protests over the next two months, Hsieh said that even more “grassroots lectures and popular movements should be held.”
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
RSS