The Taiwan Independence Party protested at the French Institute Taipei (FIT) yesterday against French President Jacques Chirac's condemnation of Taiwan's referendum plan.
On Monday night, during a state dinner in Paris in honor of visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The Taiwan Independence Party and a number of social groups recruited about 50 people to join yesterday's protest, to voice their anger at Chirac and demand an apology from him.
Chirac's behavior oppresses Taiwan's democracy and embraces an arbitrary regime like China, said Hsu Ching-song (許清松), the party's deputy secretary-general, who wrote a protest letter to the FIT.
"Democracy is an universal value. Chirac has no right to interfere in Taiwan's internal affairs," Hsu said.
The demonstration began at 10am and lasted about an hour.
The protesters carried banners condemning Chirac's statement, shouted slogans and dropped eggs.
The institute sent an official to collect the party's protest letter.
"The official told us he would report our opinions to his superiors. We are not satisfied with their response, but at least we have expressed what most Taiwanese people think about Chirac's remarks," Hsu said.
FIT officials declined to comment on yesterday's protest or on other questions related to the French president's comments.
Despite Chirac's open opposition to Taiwan's referendum, communication channels between the two countries "still exist," a source at the Taipei Representative Office in France said yesterday.
French reporters approached the office for comments after Chirac made the statement against the referendum, but the office remained quiet over the issue, according to the source.
The office is trying to further understand the implications of Chirac's remarks, the source said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in response to Chirac's comments late Tuesday night, expressing "its strong displeasure with the French government."
"The referendum will be the most significant milestone in Taiwan's process of democratization, in which the governments of other countries have no right to intervene," the ministry said in the statement.
The ministry emphasized that the referendum is not intended to alter the status in the Taiwan Strait, nor is it for the pursuit of independence.
The Chinese government, "by its diehard militant nature, has pressured the French government, urging it to ignore the universal value of democracy and to publicly oppose Taiwan's holding a referendum," the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated its call to China to respect the basic human rights of the 23 million people of Taiwan as well as their space in the international community.
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