A group of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople defied rainy weather conditions in Taipei yesterday to stage a demonstration against the Chinese authorities, whom they accused of oppressing and deceiving them.
At least 30 vehicles gathered in front of the National Palace Museum at 1pm to begin a march around the city, said Shen Po-sheng (沈柏勝), a Taiwanese businessman who had operations in China.
The demonstration was organized by an association of Taiwanese investors who said they fell victim to scams perpetrated by their Chinese partners in collaboration with members of China’s judiciary.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
Shen, who went to Tianjin to do business 20 years ago, said he lost 190 million yuan (US$29.7 million) when his factory was illegally seized by the Chinese government, but received government compensation of only 16 million yuan.
He said that after his complaints to the Tianjin municipal government and prosecutors’ office were ignored, he tried to kill himself in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in protest.
Huang Hsi-tsung (黃錫聰), one of the organizers of the demonstration, accused Fujian provincial officials and banks of “collusion” by forging his name and that of -another Taiwanese to apply for loans in their names with four banks.
The two Taiwanese refused to pay the debts they did not owe and had their companies seized by court orders as a result, Huang said.
The case spent 11 years in China’s justic system, but eventually “came to nothing, despite our greatest -efforts,” he said.
The business group decided to take to the streets to warn other Taiwanese that “investing in China is a dead end,” Shen said.
Most businesspeople do not trust a bilateral investment protection agreement Taipei hopes to sign with Beijing, Shen said, because China already had -investment protection laws and rules for Taiwanese that are not being enforced.
“What’s the point of signing this agreement? It will never benefit Taiwanese businessmen. [China’s] only purpose is to form another ‘united front,’” Shen said.
Huang told a press conference last week he had received a -threatening telephone call on Wednesday from Zhang Jiwei (張繼偉), an official from the People’s Procuratorate of the Province of Fujian, who said “agents” would be sent to Taipei to collect information and that if anything “inappropriate” was said or done during the protest, they would take retaliatory action.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS