Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) yesterday concluded his five-day visit to Taiwan with an enthusiastic send-off from a pro-unification group. However, protesters said he was not welcome in Taiwan.
More than 2,000 members of the China Unification Promotion Party stood and waved colorful ribbons to bid Chen farewell as his motorcade left for the airport from Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County where he had spent Thursday night.
It was estimated that more than 5,000 police from across the nation were mobilized to ensure Chen’s safety.
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Earlier yesterday morning, approximately 100 Falun Gong practitioners, dressed in their signature yellow and blue uniforms, gathered near Sun Moon Lake’s Lalu Hotel where Chen was staying.
The group, considered a cult by the Beijing government, mobilized more than 10,000 people over the past week to protest against Chen’s visit. Falun Gong protesters were present at every location Chen visited during his stay.
Since 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in China have reportedly been subject to torture, imprisonment, forced labor and organ harvesting.
Two female pro-independence supporters also staged a small protest at the scenic spot. One, surnamed Lin, wrapped herself in the Democratic Progressive Party flag and said Chen should take President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other leading Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) figures home as “souvenirs.”
“Communist Chen must get out of Taiwan now and never return. His presence causes immeasurable damage to Taiwan,” one of the protesters said.
The small clusters of protesters were confronted with an army of more than 1,000 police officers who barricaded major roads around the vacation spot with barbed wire fences.
Armed police were seen on the rooftops of all major buildings in the vicinity.
Store owners complained that the heavy police presence caused many tourists to cancel plans to visit the area.
“If it weren’t for the press corps, we would have had virtually no business for two days even though its Christmas, which should have been a busy time of the year,” souvenir shop manager Chen Jui-hsin (陳瑞新) said.
A tourist surnamed Lee said Chen’s presence ruined her family vacation at Sun Moon Lake.
“He should have been courteous enough to pick another time to come,” Lee said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING, BY STAFF WRITER
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