TAIPEI - Pro-Independence protesters in southern Taiwan assaulted an envoy from rival China on Tuesday, pushing him to the ground while shouting that their island does not belong to Beijing.
The attack on Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait comes amid rapidly improving relations between Beijing and Taipei under the new administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying Jeou.
Mr. Ma was elected in March after promising to turn the corner on the pro-independence policies of predecessor Chen Shui Bian and seek expanded trade and political relations with China, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
China continues to claim the island as part of its territory and has threatened to invade if it ever moves toward formal independence.
Pictures from Taiwan TV stations showed about a dozen protesters surrounding Mr. Zhang at a Tainan temple commemorating Confucius, then toppling him to the ground while shouting anti-communist and pro-independence slogans.
‘Taiwan does not belong to China,’ protesters shouted. Mr. Zhang was helped to his feet by an escort and rushed to a waiting vehicle.
A middle-aged man stomped and banged on the vehicle but did not attempt to prevent it from leaving the scene.
The attack on Mr. Zhang comes several weeks before a planned visit by his immediate superior, Chen Yun Lin, long the point man in pushing for unity across the 160km-wide Taiwan Strait.
In Taipei, premier Liu Chao Shiuan and the ruling Kuomintang party condemned the incident.
‘The incident seriously damaged the image of Taiwanese people and this is not the way to treat a guest ... we demand DPP chairman Tsai Ing Wen apologise to Mr. Zhang, the Kuomintang said in a statement.
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus, meanwhile, said it deemed Mr. Zhang an ‘enemy’ of Taiwan.
‘China uses toxic milk to poison Taiwanese people and deploy missiles to threaten us. We don’t consider Mr. Zhang a guest but an enemy, and no one will treat an enemy nicely,’ opposition lawmaker Yeh Yi Jin told reporters.
On Saturday the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is scheduled to hold a mass rally in Taipei to protest Mr. Ma’s China policies, which include regular direct flights between the sides and liberalised conditions for Chinese investment on Taiwan.
The DPP says Mr. Ma’s approach is undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty and putting the island’s de facto independence and its democratic political system at risk.
Mr. Ma says better trade relations with China are necessary to bring Taiwan closer into the international economy. He has promised not to discuss the issue of unity with the mainland during his presidency. -- AP, AFP
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Chinese Envoy Attacked
21 October 2008
TAIPEI - Pro-Independence protesters in southern Taiwan assaulted an envoy from rival China on Tuesday, pushing him to the ground while shouting that their island does not belong to Beijing.
The attack on Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait comes amid rapidly improving relations between Beijing and Taipei under the new administration of Taiwanese President Ma Ying Jeou.
Mr. Ma was elected in March after promising to turn the corner on the pro-independence policies of predecessor Chen Shui Bian and seek expanded trade and political relations with China, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
China continues to claim the island as part of its territory and has threatened to invade if it ever moves toward formal independence.
Pictures from Taiwan TV stations showed about a dozen protesters surrounding Mr. Zhang at a Tainan temple commemorating Confucius, then toppling him to the ground while shouting anti-communist and pro-independence slogans.
‘Taiwan does not belong to China,’ protesters shouted. Mr. Zhang was helped to his feet by an escort and rushed to a waiting vehicle.
A middle-aged man stomped and banged on the vehicle but did not attempt to prevent it from leaving the scene.
The attack on Mr. Zhang comes several weeks before a planned visit by his immediate superior, Chen Yun Lin, long the point man in pushing for unity across the 160km-wide Taiwan Strait.
In Taipei, premier Liu Chao Shiuan and the ruling Kuomintang party condemned the incident.
‘The incident seriously damaged the image of Taiwanese people and this is not the way to treat a guest ... we demand DPP chairman Tsai Ing Wen apologise to Mr. Zhang, the Kuomintang said in a statement.
The Democratic Progressive Party caucus, meanwhile, said it deemed Mr. Zhang an ‘enemy’ of Taiwan.
‘China uses toxic milk to poison Taiwanese people and deploy missiles to threaten us. We don’t consider Mr. Zhang a guest but an enemy, and no one will treat an enemy nicely,’ opposition lawmaker Yeh Yi Jin told reporters.
On Saturday the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is scheduled to hold a mass rally in Taipei to protest Mr. Ma’s China policies, which include regular direct flights between the sides and liberalised conditions for Chinese investment on Taiwan.
The DPP says Mr. Ma’s approach is undermining Taiwan’s sovereignty and putting the island’s de facto independence and its democratic political system at risk.
Mr. Ma says better trade relations with China are necessary to bring Taiwan closer into the international economy. He has promised not to discuss the issue of unity with the mainland during his presidency. -- AP, AFP
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