TAIWAN | Pro-independence protests break out as top mainland negotiator arrives

Opposition party supporters scuffle with police as they protest the arrival of Chen Deming, President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), upon his arrival at the Taoyuan International Airport 

Supporters of Taiwan’s opposition were protesting the arrival of Chinese official Chen Deming, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, as he arrived in Taoyuan, Taiwan, yesterday for the start of an eight-day visit. Chen, China’s top negotiator with Taiwan, was making his first visit to the island since Taiwan’s pro-China ruling party suffered steep losses in local elections on Nov. 29.
Dozens of pro-independence protesters opposed to Chen’s visit scuffled with police as he arrived at Taoyuan airport, in the north of Taiwan. According to an article in yesterday’s South China Morning Post, Chen waved to journalists saying, “Thank you, thank you,” as he and his delegation, made up of high-profile business leaders, were whisked away by security guards to waiting limousines. Activists, including those from Falun Gong, the spiritual movement banned on the mainland, were blocked by police as they tried to get close to him, the paper stated.
“We want to show Chen the latest public opinion – that he is not welcome in Taiwan,” SCMP quoted a leader of the pro-independence activists, which is led by Taiwan Solidarity Union, as shouting.
Chen, who represents the mainland in its talks with Taiwan, was set to meet his Taiwanese counterpart, Lin Join-sane, of the Straits Exchange Foundation, yesterday evening, before making a tour of a cultural village affiliated with the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, the paper further reported.
Both men were expected to exchange views on political and economic developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, especially Taiwan’s recent local elections, which saw the KMT suffer its worst setback at the polls since coming to power in Taiwan 65 years ago.
Concerns over increasingly close trade links with Beijing were considered a significant factor in the party’s poor showing. While the ruling Nationalist Party supports close ties with Beijing, its main rival, the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, wants dialogue with China, but rejects Beijing’s demand that it acknowledge that the two sides are a single country. AP/MDT