Anti-Chinese protests are not an “accurate” expression of Taiwan’s democracy, China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) said yesterday, in response to demonstrations that have shadowed his visit in Taiwan.
When asked about protesters from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and Falun Gong as he concluded a tour of the Zhu-nan Snake Kiln and Sanyi Wood Sculpture Museum in Miaoli County, Chen said the demonstrations were a “form of Taiwan’s democracy.”
When asked if he had “grasped” the essence of Taiwan’s democracy, Chen said that he was still “feeling things out.”
Photo: Tsai Cheng-min, Taipei Times
“Taiwan’s more accurate [manifestation of] democracy would not be expressed in this way, do you not think?” he said.
“Is this Taiwan’s democratic mainstream? It is important to look at the question in this way — I feel that the mainstream democracy of Taiwanese is a better way of expressing opinions,” he said.
Falun Gong and the TSU youth division protesters gathered behind police barricades outside the museum.
TSU protesters held signs accusing Chen of deceiving Taiwan, yelling slogans calling for him to be “driven out.”
Several protestors at one point sought to climb over the barricades, but were pushed back by police.
“Ever since Chen Deming arrived in Taiwan, he has been going everywhere to defraud and carry out ‘united front’ tactics,” TSU Department of Youth Affairs director Chang Chao-lin (張兆林) said. “In Keelung, he encouraged Taiwanese corporations to go to China to invest in retirement homes, but there are not actually any clear laws yet — so his statements were fraudulent.”
Falung Gong protesters lined the roadside outside the museum, holding banners demanding that the Chinese Communist Party stop “persecuting” the religious sect.
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