A group of civic organizations yesterday began a series of protests against the opacity of the recently signed cross-strait service trade agreement, asking the government to scrap the agreement and renegotiate with China over the terms of the pact.
“President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government did not consult with any industries or the legislature before signing the agreement,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told the rally held in Taipei.
“Industries I spoke to all said they are worried about the negative impacts there may be as a result of the signed agreement, and yet Ma keeps saying that ‘certain political parties and media’ are exaggerating negative consequences of the service pact,” he said.
Photo: Lee Lee-fa, Taipei Times
As governing and opposition lawmakers have reached a consensus to review the cross-strait service trade agreement during an extraordinary legislative session slated to take place beginning on Tuesday, the DPP will insist that the legislature screen the pact item-by-item, he added.
National Taiwan University economics department chairwoman Jang Show-ling (鄭秀玲) said in a video shown at the rally that the Ma administration violated three principles in signing the cross-strait service trade agreement.
The signing lacked transparency throughout the process, it put commercial interests ahead of national interests by opening air, sea and land transportation and communication industries to China and the agreement is unequal, she said.
Saying the pact would only benefit big business and damage small and medium-sized enterprises and their workers in the service sector, Jang called for the government to renegotiate the pact with China.
Former Examination Yuan president Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), one of the conveners of the series of protests which the groups plan to stage over the next seven days, voiced concerns that when Chinese businesses establish themselves in Taiwan, not only industry, but national security would be affected.
In addition to the rally yesterday, a protest organized by groups such as the Cross-Strait Agreement Watch, Taiwan Democracy Watch and the Taiwan Labor Front will take place in front of the Legislative Yuan tonight.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS