Flying shoes and empty water bottles greeted Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) as he returned from his three-day visit to China early yesterday morning, with protesters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport taking aim at the party leader.
Led by the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) youth division, the protesters decried Chu’s trip as “selling out” Taiwan, saying that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) betrayed national interests.
Security personnel used large black umbrellas to shield Chu from the projectiles as the KMT delegation crossed the arrival hall; other staff stopped protesters before they could take further action.
Photo: Yao Kai-shiou, Taipei Times
While police officers restricted most demonstrators to a small zone outside Terminal 2, others disguised as passengers entered the arrival lobby for closer demonstrations against Chu.
Chu’s flight was delayed and did not touch down until shortly after midnight yesterday.
TSU Department of Organization head Tsai Feng-wen (蔡豐文) said that the KMT has backpedaled on its past staunch anticommunist stance to please Chinese authorities, adding that Chu’s actions signify an abandonment of Taiwan’s national sovereignty.
Separately, the new Social Democratic Party (SDP) also lashed out at Chu’s Beijing visit, questioning the KMT chairman’s legitimacy as a representative to engage in negotiations with China on behalf of Taiwanese.
The cross-strait policies of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration were evidently derived from conclusions made during the first KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum in 2005, SDP legislative candidate Miao Po-ya (苗博雅) said at a news conference in Taipei.
“We can see that the KMT-CCP forum is clearly not simply a meeting between two political parties. Basically, they are determining the nation’s cross-strait policies in an under-the-table manner,” Miao said, adding that the forums fail to adhere to a democratic process.
“The KMT administration evidently aims to utilize such unofficial channels that remain free of public oversight to determine the development of diplomatic policies between the two nations,” Miao said.
SDP legislative candidate Lee Yen-jong (李晏榕) said that cross-strait talks should be conducted through intergovernmental channels between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China.
“Aside from a failure to distinguish between the party and the state, Chu’s vision of cross-strait treaties is one that bars citizens from participation,” Lee said.
She criticized the government’s proposed bill for an oversight mechanism for cross-strait treaties, saying that it prevents meaningful oversight and could not prevent the abuse of power.
She urged legislators to support a version of the bill submitted by civic groups, saying that the government’s draft contained a clause in which administrative orders related to cross-strait affairs can be automatically legalized if they are not reviewed by the legislature within three months.
Meanwhile, a coalition of pro-independence groups headed by the Northern Taiwan Society described Chu’s visit to China as a “black-box deal” that lacked transparency.
Taiwan Nation Alliance chairman Wu Shu-min (吳樹民) said that many people initially had high expectations of Chu, because when he was running for the KMT chairmanship late last year, he said he would look into the controversial issue of KMT party assets.
However, not only has Chu failed in his handling of the party’s assets, he is also selling out Taiwan to China, Wu said, referring to remarks Chu made during his meeting with Xi in which Chu described the so-called “1992 consensus” as both sides belonging “to one China, but with each side ascribing different contents and definitions to the concept of ‘one China.’”
Chu’s actions prove the slogan used during the Sunflower movement that: “Unless the KMT falls, Taiwan will never do well (國民黨不倒，台灣不會好),” Wu said.
Additional reporting by Chen Hui-ping
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
RSS