TENS OF thousands of opposition demonstrators marched in Taiwan at the weekend to protest against a new trade deal with China which, the protesters say, will undermine the island’s self-rule and harm the Taiwanese economy.
The Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement is a major plank in the pro-China policies of President Ma Ying-jeou, whose Kuomintang government has done much to encourage closer relations across the Straits of Taiwan.
There are now direct flights to China after 60 years, Chinese tourists can visit the island and investment rules have been opened up.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party believes the president’s China-friendly policy is setting the island up for an eventual Chinese takeover of the island, a charge the president denies.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedongs forces won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist KMT fled to Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be taken back by force if necessary, although it has largely abandoned the aggressive rhetoric since Mr Ma’s election.
However, tensions across the straits mean the area remains a flashpoint in the region.
A delegation led by Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung was due in the western city of Chongqing today to discuss final details of the pact with their Chinese counterparts before a formal signing ceremony tomorrow.
However, Mr Chiang, Taiwan’s chief China envoy, insisted the pact would yield far-reaching benefits to the export-driven Taiwanese economy.
On the eve of his departure, Mr Chiang defended the pact saying: “This agreement will grant the Taiwan economy a transitional opportunity for further growth . . . with the agreement, Taiwan will be able to compete fairly with southeast Asian countries in China.”
Mr Chiang and Mr Ma insist Taiwan is signing the deal because China has a deal with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which takes effect next year and which they say will leave Taiwan isolated.
The pact will give Taiwan an equal footing with those taking part in the Asean deal.
Some 32,000 people joined the rally in Taipei, according to the police, far short of the 100,000 the opposition claimed had taken part in the rally. The demonstrators chanted anti-Communist slogans and called for a referendum on the pact.
The deal goes to the national assembly next month where it is expected to get a strong vote of confidence.
Most Taiwanese support the trade pact, but there is growing unhappiness in the country with Mr Ma’s approach to China.
The Democratic Progressive Party, which was ousted in 2008, has dominated various byelections and many regional polls and it hopes to turn this into real political muscle in the mayoral elections later this year. A general election is due in 2012.