Several pan-green civic groups yesterday challenged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other government officials to an open debate tomorrow on the topic of a government-proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The government has urged the public not to oppose the planned trade deal before the details have been disclosed, “but this is ridiculous because opposing something we don’t know is our way of protesting against tyranny,” Taiwan Society director Janice Chen (陳昭姿) told a press conference yesterday.
A protest against the government’s attitude on an ECFA is scheduled to be held tomorrow at 1pm on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office. Organizers said protesters would voice their concerns in a peaceful manner.
Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy secretary-general Chen Yu-hsin (陳雨鑫) said he suspected the government would proceed to sign an ECFA with Beijing, with or without public consent — a repeat of what the Ma administration did when it signed a protocol with Washington on US beef imports.
“The stage has been set and the invitation has been issued. We are urging Ma not to be afraid to face public scrutiny,” Janice Chen said.
The Taiwan Society said several economic experts would also be at the event to elaborate the negative impacts an ECFA would have on Taiwan.
The invitation to Ma was sent to Presidential Office personnel. As of press time, the president had not responded. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and the Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Mao-lin (施茂林) were also invited, but have not responded.
Chen said policy makers had the obligation to explain to the public important agreements, adding that their unwillingness to face the public was a sign of incompetence.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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