A group of Taiwanese independence advocates yesterday vowed to follow China’s top negotiator “every step of the way” when he visits Taiwan next week to show their anger in a series of protests.
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chen Yunlin Chairman (陳雲林) is scheduled to arrive in Taipei on Monday for the sixth round of talks since 2008.
“We will follow him every step of the way,” said Chien Sheng-che (簡聖哲) from “Taiwan Republic,” one of 10 organizations pledging to take part in the demonstrations.
“We want to show him that Taiwan is Taiwan, and China is China. They are two separate countries,” he said.
On Wednesday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said it has no plans to mobilize supporters to protest during Chen’s visit.
“But we’ll keep a close eye on what agreements are signed, to make sure that no national interest is betrayed,” DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.
No police officials were immediately available to comment on the number of officers to be deployed for the coming negotiations.
When Chen visited Taiwan in November 2008, he was confined to his hotel for much of the trip because of street demonstrations outside.
Chen is scheduled to hold talks with his Taiwanese counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), on Tuesday and depart the following day.
At the center of the talks will be epidemic control measures and joint research and development of medicines, herbal medicines and emergency treatment.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.