Several groups of activists staged a protest outside the legislature yesterday, denouncing the legislature for relinquishing its authority to participate in cross-strait negotiations n Taipei between the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).
“The legislature is the highest representative of the people. It should have a say in the cross-strait talks, but it doesn’t. We are here to protest against the legislature’s waiver of its constitutional right,” said Mary Chen (陳曼麗), head of the National Union of Taiwan Women Association.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), whom she said should be involved in formulating key national policies, was bypassed altogether, Chen said.
Chen was protesting with several other member organizations of Citizen Congress Watch (CCW), a legislative watchdog.
Citing Judicial Yuan Interpretation No. 520, CCW said it was the legislature’s right to participate in the decision-making process on critical national issues, a ruling that has been confirmed by the Council of Grand Justices.
“The legislature should activate its task force on supervising cross-strait affairs to reveal the details of the cross-strait negotiations,” CCW executive director Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
He added that any cross-strait agreement involving the rights and obligations of the public could not be implemented without legislative approval.
TASK FORCE
The legislature established the task force to supervise cross-strait affairs in November 2000. Regulations stipulate that the panel must be composed of 25 members, with each legislative caucus holding a number of seats based on its number of legislative seats.
However, the task force has not played an active role in cross-strait affairs.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus also joined the protesters’ demand that the four agreements on shipping, aviation, postal services and food safety signed by the SEF and ARATS be sent to the legislature for approval.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) told a press conference that the party strongly opposed the agreement that cross-strait flights would no longer pass through a third flight information region, leaving the international community with the impression that they are domestic, rather than international routes.
DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said that the based on the agreement on food safety, Taiwan would have to accept inspection results from China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. Kuan warned that Taiwanese could not put their trust in the Chinese organization as it had approved the export of so many toxic foods.
Three former Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) heads — DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), former representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) — criticized the agreements at a press conference yesterday.
Slamming the aviation agreement as a domestication of flights, Chen Ming-tong said the Chinese national carrier Air China would not be required to first touch down at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and could land at any domestic airport directly, whereas Taiwan’s China Airlines would not be granted the same rights.
He also said the shipping agreement was unclear, saying the “devil is in the detail.”
While Tsai stressed the agreement could only go into effect after the legislature approves it, Chen Ming-tong said the “three links” — postal, air and shipping — were important issues and that if the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had faith in the agreements, it should put the issue to a referendum and give the public a chance to decide.
The government has given away too much in the areas of sovereignty and national security and it is hard to see how this has benefitted Taiwan, he said.
He said that Ma had given away too much, too soon.
At a separate setting, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) said the four agreements reached yesterday were secret deals between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), adding that the legislature and the public have had no chance to supervise the proceedings.
The details of the talks must be made public and transparent, Huang said.
Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) said yesterday he did not believe any of the items on the agenda of the cross-strait negotiations touched on the sovereignty issue.
“The Chiang-Chen meeting touched on issues that relate to the public’s life, such as direct air and shipping links, and were also on the agenda of [DPP Chairwoman] Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) when she was MAC chairwoman,” Liu said.
Liu was referring to the meeting between SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
‘SPECIAL ROUTES’
Liu called the negotiated flight routes “special routes,” adding that they would not pose any threat to national security as the government had considered the Ministry of National Defense’s position during the talks.
“In the past, [cross-strait talks] were held in a third country or China. This is the first time the meeting is being held in our country. The whole process of negotiation has been placed under the supervision of the people. This is better than holding the talks in a third country,” Liu said.
In related developments, KMT Legislator Tsao Erh-chang (曹爾忠) and DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) proposed an impromptu motion during the legislature’s plenary session yesterday afternoon to invite Chiang, MAC Chairman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛), SEF Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) and other government ministers to report on the four cross-strait agreements at a special joint meeting at the legislature to help the public gain a better understanding of the agreements.
The motion is still pending review by the legislature.
Regarding former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) call for legislative scrutiny of the negotiations between the SEF and ARATS and a national referendum on any agreement concerning the government’s political authority, the MAC said the issues discussed at the cross-strait negotiations were set by the former Chen Shui-bian administration.
The negotiation process was conducted in accordance with due process and supervised by the legislature, the MAC said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS