Anti-ECFA protest launched on president’s inauguration anniversary
CNA 2010/05/20
Anti-ECFA protest launched on president’s inauguration anniversary
Taipei, May 20 (CNA) — Opposition groups staged Thursday a sit-in in Taipei against the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China.
The three-day demonstration, which called for a referendum to be held on the issue, was organized to coincide with the second anniversary of President Ma Ying-jeou’s inauguration.
As of Thursday afternoon, a few hundred people had gathered at the sit-in outside the Legislative Yuan.
Among some of the most prominent protesters were opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei and former Premier Frank Hsieh.
Tsai Chi-chang, a spokesman for the DPP, urged the people to join the sit-in, which he said will allow them to think about whether their life has become happier over the past two years of Ma’s term.
"Is signing the ECFA favorable to Taiwan? We should also think about what path Taiwan should take in the future," Tsai said.
He expressed disapproval of what he described as Ma’s "self-complacency" with a report released Wednesday by the International Institute for Management Development, which ranks Taiwan as the world’s eighth most competitive economy, up from 23rd a year ago.
According to Tsai, the competitiveness report mainly evaluates a country’s investment and business environment from the perspective of businesses, and the higher the degree of trade liberalization, the higher the competitive ranking will get.
Despite its high competitiveness ranking, Taiwan has performed poorly in major economic indices over the past two years, Tsai argued.
For example, he said, the country’s unemployment rate has been the highest among Asia’s four little dragons, the average earnings by local workers have declined to the level of 13 years ago, and the number of families living in poverty has increased by 15 percent.
Meanwhile, the revenue shortfall of NT$250 billion in 2009 was the highest ever recorded by Taiwan, Tsai said.
He said the widening gap between the rich and the poor is the most serious problem faced by Taiwan today and he urged Ma to "turn around and look at those people who are weeping." Ma and other supporters of the ECFA have argued that the trade agreement is necessary to prevent Taiwan from being marginalized as other countries sign free-trade deals with China, Taiwan’s biggest trade partner. Ma has insisted that more jobs will be gained than lost and has pledged to help vulnerable workers and industries.
The sit-in will run through 10 p.m. Saturday. There have been concerns that the activity could cause inconvenience to students taking the Basic Competence Test, slated for Saturday and Sunday.
The examination venue that is most likely to be affected is the Taipei Chenggong High School, which is located in the vicinity of the Legislative Yuan.
In anticipation of the situation, Taipei’s Department of Education said it has assigned additional workers to the venue, while police will also help maintain traffic order in the surrounding area. (By Wen Kuei-hsiang, Chen Hung-chin and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/cs
