ID :
28836
Thu, 11/06/2008 - 23:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/28836
The shortlink copeid
Taiwan, China hold unprecedented meeting amid protests
TAIPEI, Nov. 6 Kyodo - Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou met Thursday with China's top envoy for Taiwan affairs Chen Yunlin, the first meeting between the holder of Taiwan's highest office and a representative of the Beijing government, while anti-China protesters filled the streets near the meeting venue in downtown Taipei, blaring air horns and clashing with riot police.
The meeting between Ma and Chen, who heads Beijing's Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Straits, was moved up five hours ahead of schedule to avoid
the brunt of the rally.
Still, the din of megaphones and gong-clashing could be heard at the venue.
The five-minute exchange between Ma and Chen at a government guesthouse came
after demonstrators had barricaded the envoy in the Regent Hotel from Wednesday
night until early Thursday after he visited the hotel to attend a banquet
hosted by Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of protesters spilled into the streets around the
luxury hotel, with a handful of them managing to get into the lobby.
Hundreds of police were mobilized in response, often clashing with
demonstrators, who managed to block all exits until 2 a.m. when Chen was
escorted out a side door and into a van that took him to his own hotel,
Taipei's landmark Grand Hotel.
Surrounded by barbed-wire barricades, the Grand has faced a steady onslaught of
protesters since Monday when Chen arrived from Beijing leading a delegation of
some 60 senior Chinese officials.
Chen has been dogged by hecklers on virtually every leg of his tour.
Though a milestone in relations across the Taiwan Strait, Thursday's Ma-Chen
meeting was unusually brief. Chen stood silently except to introduce to Ma a
scroll painting of a horse, a gift alluding to Ma's surname, which means
''horse'' in Chinese.
Ma gave Chen a Chinese vase and the two shook hands amid salvos of camera flashes.
''The significance (of this visit) is great,'' Ma said. ''It symbolizes a big
step forward in cross-strait relations.''
Chen's lack of remarks helped the two sidestep the prickly issue of titles, a
focus of the island's opposition Democratic Progressive Party and local media
before the meeting.
If Chen had addressed Ma as ''president,'' the reference could have been
interpreted as a nod from Beijing for the island's de facto sovereignty. On the
other hand, if Chen had called Ma ''mister'' or another title, that reference,
the DPP warned, would have been rude.
''If President Ma cannot even defend his own title, what can he defend for
us?'' DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ying-wen asked Wednesday.
She made appearances at the Regent Hotel protest and Thursday's rally near the
meeting venue.
Rivals since they split amid civil war in 1949, China and Taiwan do not
recognize each other's governments and they even claim each other's territories
as their own.
China vows to annex the self-governed island, which it regards as a renegade
province.
For Beijing, however, the venue of the meeting was already something of a
concession.
Ma and Chen met at the Taipei Guest House, a Victorian-style mansion reserved
for government functions just opposite the Foreign Ministry, a reminder for
Chen of the island's ability to conduct foreign relations.
The Office of the President, the seat of power in Taiwan, is nearby.
Besides a scroll and vase, the two sides agreed to exchange rare animals in a
further sign of warming relations.
Just before the meeting, Chen and his Taiwanese counterpart Chiang Pin-kung
announced the politically charged mammal swap, to take place possibly next
month.
Chen pledged two giant pandas, while Chiang donated a Formosan sika deer and a
Formosan serow, a goat-like mammal with small horns.
The Taipei Zoo last week reportedly finished construction of its Panda House
for ''Tuan Tuan'' and ''Yuan Yuan,'' a pair of 4-year-old pandas from China's
Sichuan Province whose names, when spoken together, mean ''united'' in Chinese,
a reference to China's bid to unify Taiwan with the mainland.
Accepting pandas whose names refer to unification is a politically significant
move for Taiwan, whose last president, Chen Shui-bian, rejected China's ''panda
diplomacy'' on the grounds it would damage the island's de facto sovereignty.
Amid the swaps, meetings and photo-ops, the independence-leaning DPP vowed to
mobilize some 100,000 supporters for an all-day ''surround-the-city'' march.
A raucous crowd waving yellow banners reading ''Taiwan is my country!''
thronged the capital by Thursday afternoon, swelling as the day went on.
Riot police tried to hold them back.
The DPP and other pro-sovereignty supporters typically view China as hostile.
Near the presidential office, pockets of demonstrators turned violent,
overturning barbed-wire barriers, blocking fire trucks and brawling with
police.
Local TV footage showed one crowd tearing the shirt off a man who tried to get
away but later collapsed under a punishing round of fists.
It was unclear why the man was attacked or if he was seriously injured.
Other video showed protesters carrying away a limp, bloodied confederate from
the police barricades.
The island's Central News Agency said at least one barricade had been overrun
and that some police and rioters were hospitalized.
Ma, in televised remarks before his meeting with Chen, condemned the violence,
saying it had ''harmed Taiwan's image.''
''You can't ignore public assembly laws just because you're the opposition,
turning your back on the principles of reason and peace,'' Ma said, referring
to the DPP.
Since Ma took office May 20, cross-strait ties have warmed dramatically, with
Taiwan and China restarting formal talks, stalled for nearly a decade under
Chen Shui-bian and his predecessor Lee Teng-hui.
The Ma administration has signed several trade pacts with Beijing, with the
latest four signed Tuesday after negotiations between Chiang and Chen Yunlin,
who is expected to return to Beijing on Friday.
The agreements forged expanded air, cargo and postal links across the strait.
Ma lauded Chen's trip as a success during the meeting.
But he added, ''There is no denying disputes and challenges remain, especially
in terms of Taiwan's security and international space.''
The meeting between Ma and Chen, who heads Beijing's Association for Relations
Across the Taiwan Straits, was moved up five hours ahead of schedule to avoid
the brunt of the rally.
Still, the din of megaphones and gong-clashing could be heard at the venue.
The five-minute exchange between Ma and Chen at a government guesthouse came
after demonstrators had barricaded the envoy in the Regent Hotel from Wednesday
night until early Thursday after he visited the hotel to attend a banquet
hosted by Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of protesters spilled into the streets around the
luxury hotel, with a handful of them managing to get into the lobby.
Hundreds of police were mobilized in response, often clashing with
demonstrators, who managed to block all exits until 2 a.m. when Chen was
escorted out a side door and into a van that took him to his own hotel,
Taipei's landmark Grand Hotel.
Surrounded by barbed-wire barricades, the Grand has faced a steady onslaught of
protesters since Monday when Chen arrived from Beijing leading a delegation of
some 60 senior Chinese officials.
Chen has been dogged by hecklers on virtually every leg of his tour.
Though a milestone in relations across the Taiwan Strait, Thursday's Ma-Chen
meeting was unusually brief. Chen stood silently except to introduce to Ma a
scroll painting of a horse, a gift alluding to Ma's surname, which means
''horse'' in Chinese.
Ma gave Chen a Chinese vase and the two shook hands amid salvos of camera flashes.
''The significance (of this visit) is great,'' Ma said. ''It symbolizes a big
step forward in cross-strait relations.''
Chen's lack of remarks helped the two sidestep the prickly issue of titles, a
focus of the island's opposition Democratic Progressive Party and local media
before the meeting.
If Chen had addressed Ma as ''president,'' the reference could have been
interpreted as a nod from Beijing for the island's de facto sovereignty. On the
other hand, if Chen had called Ma ''mister'' or another title, that reference,
the DPP warned, would have been rude.
''If President Ma cannot even defend his own title, what can he defend for
us?'' DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ying-wen asked Wednesday.
She made appearances at the Regent Hotel protest and Thursday's rally near the
meeting venue.
Rivals since they split amid civil war in 1949, China and Taiwan do not
recognize each other's governments and they even claim each other's territories
as their own.
China vows to annex the self-governed island, which it regards as a renegade
province.
For Beijing, however, the venue of the meeting was already something of a
concession.
Ma and Chen met at the Taipei Guest House, a Victorian-style mansion reserved
for government functions just opposite the Foreign Ministry, a reminder for
Chen of the island's ability to conduct foreign relations.
The Office of the President, the seat of power in Taiwan, is nearby.
Besides a scroll and vase, the two sides agreed to exchange rare animals in a
further sign of warming relations.
Just before the meeting, Chen and his Taiwanese counterpart Chiang Pin-kung
announced the politically charged mammal swap, to take place possibly next
month.
Chen pledged two giant pandas, while Chiang donated a Formosan sika deer and a
Formosan serow, a goat-like mammal with small horns.
The Taipei Zoo last week reportedly finished construction of its Panda House
for ''Tuan Tuan'' and ''Yuan Yuan,'' a pair of 4-year-old pandas from China's
Sichuan Province whose names, when spoken together, mean ''united'' in Chinese,
a reference to China's bid to unify Taiwan with the mainland.
Accepting pandas whose names refer to unification is a politically significant
move for Taiwan, whose last president, Chen Shui-bian, rejected China's ''panda
diplomacy'' on the grounds it would damage the island's de facto sovereignty.
Amid the swaps, meetings and photo-ops, the independence-leaning DPP vowed to
mobilize some 100,000 supporters for an all-day ''surround-the-city'' march.
A raucous crowd waving yellow banners reading ''Taiwan is my country!''
thronged the capital by Thursday afternoon, swelling as the day went on.
Riot police tried to hold them back.
The DPP and other pro-sovereignty supporters typically view China as hostile.
Near the presidential office, pockets of demonstrators turned violent,
overturning barbed-wire barriers, blocking fire trucks and brawling with
police.
Local TV footage showed one crowd tearing the shirt off a man who tried to get
away but later collapsed under a punishing round of fists.
It was unclear why the man was attacked or if he was seriously injured.
Other video showed protesters carrying away a limp, bloodied confederate from
the police barricades.
The island's Central News Agency said at least one barricade had been overrun
and that some police and rioters were hospitalized.
Ma, in televised remarks before his meeting with Chen, condemned the violence,
saying it had ''harmed Taiwan's image.''
''You can't ignore public assembly laws just because you're the opposition,
turning your back on the principles of reason and peace,'' Ma said, referring
to the DPP.
Since Ma took office May 20, cross-strait ties have warmed dramatically, with
Taiwan and China restarting formal talks, stalled for nearly a decade under
Chen Shui-bian and his predecessor Lee Teng-hui.
The Ma administration has signed several trade pacts with Beijing, with the
latest four signed Tuesday after negotiations between Chiang and Chen Yunlin,
who is expected to return to Beijing on Friday.
The agreements forged expanded air, cargo and postal links across the strait.
Ma lauded Chen's trip as a success during the meeting.
But he added, ''There is no denying disputes and challenges remain, especially
in terms of Taiwan's security and international space.''
