Taiwan’s DPP vows to launch referendum on China trade deal
Agence France-Presse | 19 May 2009
Taiwan’s DPP vows to launch referendum on China trade deal
TAIPEI (AFP) - The leader of Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Monday vowed to launch a referendum in a bid to stop the signing of a major trade pact with rival China.
"The DPP will get the endorsement of one million people in order to push for a referendum against the ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement)," DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen told a crowd in front of the presidential office.
"It will be our best weapon to balance the government and to oppose its pro-China (stance) and protect Taiwan," she said.
Thousands of DPP supporters joined an overnight sit-in starting late Sunday to protest against President Ma Ying-jeou’s China-friendly policies, which they say have compromised the island’s sovereignty.
The Ma administration is eyeing the pact — similar in scope to a free trade agreement — with Beijing to encourage a freer flow of goods and personnel across the Strait and to help the island tackle recession.
But the DPP has strongly opposed the deal, saying Taiwan could suffer politically and economically by rushing into an agreement.
Organisers said Monday’s protest was scheduled to end at 22:00pm (1400 GMT) but some protesters have threatened to stay until Wednesday — the first anniversary of Ma’s administration.
The DPP said 600,000 people marched in the streets of Taipei Sunday ahead of the sit-in protest but authorities put the turnout at less than 80,000.
Relations between Taiwan and China, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, hit rock bottom due to the pro-independence rhetoric of Ma’s DPP predecessor Chen Shui-bian but they have improved dramatically since Ma’s inauguration last year.
