DPP wraps up sit-in demonstration
　

GRASSROOTS POWER: DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen said a social revolution was needed to ensure the public’s voice was heard in cross-strait negotiations

By Rich Chang and Jenny W. Hsu
STAFF REPORTERS
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 1
　

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) concluded its 24-hour sit-in protest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office last night with a prayer for Taiwan’s future.

The prayer was led by Reverend William Luo (羅榮光) and followed DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) concluding speech.

Tsai called for cross-strait issues to be decided by the people and insisted that a referendum should be held on the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement with China.

“We need the power of the people from the grassroots upward to fuel a social revolution,” Tsai told the crowd, many of who were calling for the sit-in to be extended to tomorrow, the first anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration.

Some protesters said they were going to move the sit-in to in front of the Legislative Yuan, but most of the crowd headed for home.

The sit-in began at 10pm on Sunday at the end of the DPP’s rally against Ma’s China policies, which attracted tens of thousands of people.

The sit-in focused on the government’s proposed amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), which the DPP says would expand police power and restrict the right of assembly. The DPP says the proposed amendments are a sign that Taiwan is returning to the authoritarian period.

Tsai, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), former premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) and the DPP’s 27 legislators spent the night on Ketagalan Boulevard. The DPP said more than 1,000 people stayed overnight.

However, Lu and Su both left early yesterday, with Su saying he wanted to go home to freshen up.

Several anonymous donors and DPP Taipei City councilors supplied meat buns, rice dumplings, watermelon, fried noodles, sticky rice and other food, as well as tea and water, for the protesters yesterday. On Sunday night, former Taiwan Solidarity Union lawmaker Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙) had donated more than 1,000 lunch boxes.

Meanwhile, a masked man who was escorted out of the area by the police on Sunday for trying to provoke the protestors reportedly returned to the sit-in area yesterday afternoon, wearing a Republic of China flag. He was eventually escorted away by protestors and police. TV reports said he was carrying a metal rod in his backpack.

The protesters’ numbers swelled yesterday evening as people joined the sit-in after work, the DPP said.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said yesterday the government attached great importance to the demonstrators’ views.

Wang quoted Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) as saying protesters’ requests to help the disadvantaged and the jobless were what the government has been doing. Although the government could not control the global financial crisis, it could help reduce the impact, Wang said.

Regarding their demand to revise the Assembly and Parade Act, Wang said Ma hoped to see the amendments clear the legislature as soon as possible. The government would work to protect the freedom of protesters and refrain from imposing restrictions on them unless they obstruct traffic or disrupt social order, Wang said.

Yeh tearful, defensive after student heckling at WHA
　

By Meggie Lu
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 1
　

Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川) defended himself yesterday against accusations he was selling out Taiwan after being heckled at a dinner in Geneva, where he is attending the World Health Assembly (WHA).

Yeh was confronted on Sunday evening by two Taiwanese students as he arrived at a dinner for Taiwan’s diplomatic allies. The women asked him what title he was using at the WHO meeting and accused him of “selling out Taiwan.”

Yeh argued with the women before they were escorted away. However, as he left the dinner several other Taiwanese students shouted “Yeh Ching-chuan, you can’t sell out Taiwan” and held up placards reading “Taiwan’s health does concern China.” TV footage showed Swiss police arresting one woman.

“I really don’t know what these people want,” a tearful Yeh said later at a press conference.

Taiwan waited 38 years to attend the WHA and people should cherish the moment, Yeh said.

The WHA was an opportunity to step onto the international stage, he said, adding this was an opportunity that was hard-earned so he would make the best out of it.

“I respect [opposing] voices 100 percent, but they should do so in a mutually respectful manner. Barging into a private party was embarrassing for Taiwan and showed a lack of love for Taiwan,” Yeh said.

“I am mostly upset because I feel the comment insulted the 23 million people of Taiwan, not me, because I’m attending the WHA with the consent of most Taiwanese,” Yeh said.

Citing his efforts to combat SARS, Yeh said he had protected the nation with his life, adding: “If I am not patriotic, who is?”

“I don’t know what responsibility I have to shoulder, so why should I step down? I’m here to protect the lives of Taiwanese people,” he said when asked about calls from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators for him to resign.

The government did not want to attend the WHA under the name “Chinese Taipei,” because the name of the country was “Republic of China, Taiwan,” Yeh said, adding “This is the political reality.”

“A second thing I want to emphasize is, the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding [the MOU signed by China and the WHO stating that if Taiwan were to be invited, the invitation needed to go through Beijing] was signed during the time that the useless former Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] was in power,” Yeh said.

“We are not here today to cause problems, we are here to resolve them,” he said.

Yeh denied local media reports that he had refused to talk about the issue of nationality.

“The focus of the WHA meeting was the global H1N1 epidemic, so it was inappropriate for me to raise the issue of nationality or the name of our country … However, at appropriate times and places I will voice our dissatisfaction with the 2005 MOU,” he said.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) expressed regret yesterday over the heckling, urging the public to voice their differences at home rather than at international events.

Wang said Yeh had made a major contribution to public health and he could empathize with Yeh’s frustration. Wang said he understood there were different opinions, but at an international occasion like the WHA, the public should come together and strive for the best interests of Taiwan.

Meanwhile, several Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators voiced support for Yeh.

“We should stop political wrangling ... everyone should be more understanding, instead of focusing on [the nation’s] title or we will be a laughingstock,” KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) told a press conference.

KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) said the two students should not have protested against Taiwan’s observer status at the WHA if they loved Taiwan.

KMT Legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) said the students only made fools of themselves.

DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said Yeh’s title on his WHA attendance card was “Dr Yeh,” not “Minister Yeh,” and the WHO Web site referred to Taiwan as “China (Province of Taiwan)” but Yeh had “shamelessly” blamed the former DPP government for the situation.

The DPP government and the party never accepted the 2005 MOU and it was President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) who accepted it, so it was shameless for Yeh to blame the DPP, Lai said.

Meanwhile, Yeh yesterday took his seat at the annual meeting.

“I feel really good, really terrific,” Yeh said.

Yeh is the first Taiwanese health minister to be admitted to an event hosted by a UN agency since the Republic of China lost its UN membership in 1971.

“Thirty-eight years is a long wait and I feel honored to be able to represent Taiwan in the World Health Assembly,” Yeh said.

This year’s WHA opened yesterday for a five-day program with swine flu and the possibility of a vaccine topping the agenda.

Aung San Suu Kyi goes on trial over American visitor

AFP, YANGON, MYANMAR
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 1

Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial amid tight security at a notorious prison yesterday, facing up to five more years in detention on charges of harboring a US man who swam to her home.

Dozens of supporters of the ailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate gathered near Insein prison outside Yangon as the hearing got under way, one of whom was arrested by the phalanx of riot police posted behind barbed wire blockades.

The ruling junta pushed ahead with the trial of the 63-year-old despite the threat of tougher sanctions from the EU over the charges against her, which allege that she violated the terms of her house arrest.

“We can definitely win according to the law. She didn’t do anything wrong,” Nyan Win, a spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, said after the court was adjourned.

Lawyers for the pro-democracy leader opened the proceedings with an application for the trial to be held in open court, which the judges rejected, Nyan Win said.

The court then heard from the first of an expected 22 witnesses, police Colonel Zaw Min Aung, who filed the original complaint against the pro-democracy leader after the incident involving the US man, Nyan Win said.

He quoted the policeman as saying that Aung San Suu Kyi had “violated the personal restrictions on her” by having contact with John Yettaw, the man who swam across a lake to her home earlier this month.

Aung San Suu Kyi did not speak during the hearing, he said.

But she was “alert and wanted to tell friends that she is in good health,” he said.

Her latest six-year period of detention was due to expire next Wednesday, but Yettaw’s visit has apparently provided the junta with the ammunition they need to extend her detention past next year’s polls.

Yettaw, 53, reportedly described as a harmless eccentric by relatives in the US, also appeared at the trial along with two aides of Aung San Suu Kyi. A US consular official attended the hearing, Nyan Win said.

Security forces barred the ambassadors of Britain, France, Germany and Italy from the jail as they attempted to gain entry to the court, a Western diplomat said.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, said that she would protest her innocence.

“She just felt sorry for this man [Yettaw] as he had leg cramps after he swam across the lake. That’s why she allowed him to stay,” Kyi Win said.

Several dozen NLD members gathered outside the security cordon at the jail, including Win Tin, who was Myanmar’s longest serving political prisoner until his release in September, witnesses said.

The EU said yesterday it would consider boosting its sanctions against the Myanmar regime because of the trial.

DPP calls for probe into protest crash
　

CRITICAL: Despite inconsistencies in remarks by the driver of a police car that hit two protesters on Sunday, the DPP caucus whip said the party believed it was an accident
　

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 3
　

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday demanded that Taipei City officials investigate a crash on Sunday night involving a police car and two individuals attending the anti-government rally on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. Both were seriously injured.

“The Taipei City Government has not told us the truth, so there should be further investigation. Calling it an accident at this stage is trying to deflect responsibility,” DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said.

“The Taipei City Government must assume full responsibility for this incident,” he said.

Taipei Police Officer Lin Chien-chih (林建智), who was driving the police vehicle, was released on NT$100,000 bail yesterday.

The two men, Chang Chung-­hsiung (張忠雄), 68, and Hsu Jen-shan (徐仁山), 67, were crossing Hangzhou S Road near Jinou Girls’ Junior High School (金甌女中) when the police car ran them over.

Chang suffered a brain hemorrhage, a chest injury and a fractured leg. Hsu suffered bruises to his head and a broken hip joint.

The two men were rushed to National Taiwan University Hospital, where doctors performed surgery on Chang and amputated his lower left leg early yesterday morning.

“Chang’s condition has stabilized, but he is still listed as critical. He is now in the intensive care unit under observation,” a hospital spokeswoman told reporters.

“Hsu’s injuries were less severe. We will operate on him in the afternoon,” she said.

Taipei prosecutors said yesterday that based on Lin’s cellphone record, he was on the phone at 7:34pm, around the time of the accident.

Lin denies being on the phone.

Prosecutors said Lin told them he was driving between 30kph and 40kph, but the broken windshield indicated the car was traveling much faster. Witnesses told reporters at the site that the driver was going at least 80kph.

Prosecutors said Lin did not apply the brakes before hitting the two men.

The Taipei Police Department had said earlier that Lin was driving the police car while on patrol, but said later that he had finished his shift and was returning the car to a nearby police station.

Former premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) of the DPP visited the two men at hospital yesterday afternoon.

He told reporters that according to the hospital, Chang’s life still hung in the balance and that the next two days would be critical.

DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) also visited the men.

DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said the DPP believed it was an accident and that the police officer did not hit the protesters on purpose.

The party nevertheless requested that an investigation be launched immediately to clear up the matter and that the party be allowed to take part.

Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators urged the city government to punish the officer responsible.

KMT Legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) told reporters that the city government should complete the investigation into the accident as soon as possible.

KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) agreed and commended the DPP for “not politicizing the accident.”

Reactions mixed on WHA admission
　

By Flora Wang
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 3

A high percentage of respondents in a survey released yesterday appeared to be satisfied with the country’s participation at this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer, but a majority was unsatisfied with having to use the title “Chinese Taipei.”

A majority of respondents also considered China the main obstacle to Taiwan pursuing more participation in international organizations.

The poll, conducted by the ERA Poll Center for National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) Center for Foreign Policy Studies, surveyed 1,072 Taiwanese above the age of 20 between May 6 and May 9.

About 74.5 percent of respondents said they were aware Taiwan had been granted observer status at the WHA, with 74 percent saying the breakthrough would help promote the country’s international status.

A total of 37.4 percent said they were satisfied with the country’s participation at the WHA under the name “Chinese Taipei,” while 37.8 percent said the title was “unsatisfying, but acceptable.”

Fifteen percent were not satisfied with the development.

Less than 10 percent said that “Chinese Taipei” was an appropriate designation for the country in international organizations; 36.9 percent said they preferred the title “Taiwan”; 22.3 percent supported the title “ROC [Republic of China]”; and 25.9 percent said they preferred “any name that could help Taiwan gain entry.”

As many as 62 percent said they found cross-strait relations had become “more peaceful” since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) came into office on May 20 last year.

However, 60.9 percent regarded China as “the biggest obstacle to Taiwan developing foreign relations.”

About 32 percent described the Chinese government’s attitude toward Taiwan as “unfriendly,” while 41.8 percent said otherwise.

Taiwan’s war of numbers

Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 8

As with every major display of public dissatisfaction in recent years, yesterday’s demonstrations in Taipei and Kaohsiung against the policies of the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration led to wildly variable speculation about the number of people who showed up. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which organized the protests, claims 600,000 participants in Taipei and 200,000 in Kaohsiung, while law-enforcement authorities put those numbers at about 50,000 and 30,000 respectively.

Different parties inevitably seek to manipulate, and thereby politicize, the estimates of turnouts at demonstrations. Accurate or not, crowd numbers nevertheless serve as indicators of the level of proactive, popular opposition to government policies — in this case, the opposition sees them as endangering the sovereignty of Taiwan.

The National Police Agency (NPA) said on Sunday that it deployed 2,000 police officers in Taipei and 800 in Kaohsiung (excluding forces on standby).

The deployment on Sunday was therefore relatively low-key. (The ratio at Times Square in New York City on New Year’s Eve is usually 1:20 and was 1:17 during anti-war demonstrations there in 2003.)

This illustrates that the Ma administration, the Ministry of the Interior and the NPA have learned from their mistakes during the November visit of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), when a large police presence — 2,000 at the airport, 800 at Chen’s hotel and 7,000 altogether — served as a catalyst for public anger.

As a result, demonstrations over the weekend were for the most part orderly and both sides respected the rules of engagement.

Both camps issued clear instructions and cautioned against overreaction and provocative behavior. Notwithstanding an incident involving a police vehicle, both performed commendably and showed that with restraint, public discontent can be freely expressed in a democracy.

Memories of bloody clashes in November may also have subdued passions on both sides.

Ironically for the DPP, the orderliness that characterized the demonstrations could make it easier for the Ma administration to ignore its efforts and downplay the importance of the rallies.

The last thing Ma and others want as they forge ahead with their cross-strait policies is more international attention.

By making sure that things would not get out of hand, the authorities ensured that the demonstration remained a very local one in news terms — and this they accomplished with brio.

By claiming that far fewer demonstrators showed up at the protests than the DPP expected, the Ma administration will again be in a position to say that the majority of Taiwanese agree with his policies on China and that there is no need for more transparency or referendums. In other words, May 17 will be easy to sweep under the carpet and Ma can stay the course.

The DPP and police played by the rules. The Ma administration did not bite. Democracy worked to perfection, but in so doing it muted the opposition’s voice. The DPP will have to think of something else if it wants the world to hear its message.

KMT caucus is ignoring public will

Tuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 8

Speaking at a meeting of the Central Standing Committee of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) a few days ago, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) said that the government enjoys strong support from KMT legislators. Wu’s comment highlighted two important points.

First, lawmakers have a constitutional duty to supervise the executive branch. The legislature must not be reduced to a “department of legislation” that takes orders from the government. Second, the KMT caucus, which has an absolute majority in the legislature, cannot fulfill this supervisory function if its support for the Cabinet is unconditional.

This imbalance in the exercise of democracy is what has allowed the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to continue to make policy mistakes while leaning ever closer to China.

After taking office, Ma interpreted the fact that he was elected by a wide margin as a license to appoint a Cabinet of arrogant ministers.

In addition, the KMT, with its absolute legislative majority, is bent on pushing its line on key policies that will decide the course our country takes.

In so doing, the party shows scant regard for public opinion. Despite having just signed two international human rights conventions — the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights — Ma seeks at the same time to suppress the voice of the people by refusing to amend the “birdcage” Referendum Law (公投法) or liberalize the terms of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).

Instead, his administration continues to manufacture dubious opinion poll results in an attempt to make its policies seem more popular than they actually are.

During this period, KMT legislators have indeed been highly supportive of the Cabinet, just as Wu said.

In other words, the KMT caucus has given its full backing to the president’s major policies — policies that have resulted in salary cuts for many people and increased unemployment.

But KMT lawmakers are doing a disservice to those who elected them. As a result, the past year has been like a replay of the days of martial law, with an all-powerful authoritarian ruler and a rubber stamp Legislative Yuan.

The president can lay down the law with no questions asked. Lawmakers should not forget that they secured their legislative seats only by winning popular support in tough electoral contests. They should take their duties seriously, supporting good policies and opposing bad ones. If lawmakers instead submit to the whims of a dictatorial president and arrogant ministers, they will be letting down their voters.

Taiwan was hit hard by last year’s global financial storm, with business in all sectors slumping. Unemployment continues to climb and making a living is difficult. Domestic tragedies like suicide and child abuse continue to occur.

The former Democratic Progressive Party administration is partly to blame because it failed to stem the tide of manufacturing companies moving to China.

But Ma has gone further by removing all restrictions. Taiwan’s economic vigor has been depleted, leaving it with no strength to resist the global economic crisis.

Life is becoming harder for an increasing section of society.

The president has said that his administration feels the pain of ordinary people and will respond to their cries for help. In reality, the government has not halted its policy of deregulation and opening up to China — the very policy that has already done Taiwan so much harm.

Instead, the government has used the economic crisis as a pretext for speeding up its rapprochement with China. Were it not for strong public opposition, it would by now have sold Taiwan down the river by signing a cross-strait economic cooperation framework agreement.

Unfortunately, KMT lawmakers have not taken a stand against the incompetence of Ma and his Cabinet. They have not supervised the government as is their duty. Ma’s policy of cross-strait deregulation only serves the business interests of a minority of society, while ignoring the well-being of ordinary people. Yet KMT lawmakers have done nothing to stop it.

Thanks to deregulation, Chinese farm produce is crossing the Taiwan Strait through various channels, threatening the livelihood of Taiwanese farmers. Again, KMT lawmakers stand idly by.

Allowing Chinese students to attend universities in Taiwan will likewise have far-reaching negative consequences, as would recognizing Chinese diplomas, but KMT lawmakers have no objections.

Direct cross-strait transportation, opening up to Chinese tourists and other measures are allowing more Chinese to come and find work in Taiwan under various pretexts, taking away the livelihood of Taiwanese. KMT lawmakers are allowing this to happen.

Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) recently announced the first stage of deregulation, allowing Chinese investment in 99 sectors. Surprisingly, 21 of the categories involve the field of public works.

Are the country’s public works projects really so short of funds that they require investment from China? In reality, what Taiwanese businesses lack is not funds but good industrial policy to complement their own capable management. Ma and his Cabinet, however, have no such intention. They are too eager to rely on China.

With the arrival of Chinese investment will come the arrival of Chinese looking for work. Taiwanese will suffer rising unemployment and falling wages as a result. In time, per capita GDP will be dragged down to the same level as in China. Can’t legislators do something to stop harmful policies like these?

Civil servants serving under Ma’s government are paid by the public. They should listen to their consciences rather than being lured by bureaucratic privilege into betraying future generations.

A single term for a legislator lasts just four years. As elected representatives, legislators should ask themselves whether the things they do in the time allotted them really serve the interests of the taxpayers who voted for them and pay their salaries.

They should bear in mind that there will be a record of their actions in the legislature — which bills they did and did not support. If they act responsibly, their names will be honored by future generations, but if they do not they will be cursed.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) has a particular duty to set an example. Lawmakers should work for the long-term benefit of the public and prevent poor policies from being put into effect.

They should do their jobs by speaking up for the public and thus leave a legacy to be proud of.