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DPP lawmakers pan Chinese official
over FIT program
By Rich Chang / Staff Reporter
Chinese tourists take photographs
on Kinmen yesterday. Permission to travel to Kinmen was previously granted only
to residents of Fujian Province, but starting yesterday, the one-day tour is
also open to non-Fujian residents living in Xiamen.
Photo: CNA
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
caucus yesterday accused Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi (王毅) of
denigrating the sovereignty of Taiwan and the authority of President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) by making what it called a unilateral declaration that Chinese free
independent travelers (FIT) would be allowed to visit Taiwan from June 28.
“China does not consider the existence of our government. It is impolite and
disrespectful. Beijing considers itself the suzerain of Taiwan and our people
would never accept that,” DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) told a press
conference.
Wang made the announcement on Sunday at the annual Straits Forum in Xiamen,
Fujian Province.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said Taiwan had not completed the legal and
executive processes for the FIT program and that the Straits Exchange Foundation
and its counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, had
not ratified it.
“How, then, could Wang Yi make such an announcement?” Chen asked.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said that if the Ma administration failed to
clear the matter, it would signify that the government had become a local
government of China and that Taiwan had lost its dignity.
Wong said the government would not be able to cope with the security after
opening the nation to Chinese FITs, adding that the authorities were also
passing the buck by making travel agents accountable for Chinese FITs who
overstayed their 15-day visa or disappeared.
The opening of Taiwan to Chinese FITs is intended to help Ma’s presidential
campaign, but in the end, it has humiliated the people, Wong said.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said Beijing had used various opportunities
to show that Taiwan is a province of China, and although Ma was aware of those
ambitions, he was willing to be used by Beijing.
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