By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) should be expelled from the country if he makes any comments unrelated to cultural creativity during his upcoming visit to Taiwan, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) party caucus said yesterday.
Chen, who was in Taiwan last month for the eighth round of cross-strait negotiations on investment protection, is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on Monday. His 10-day trip was organized as a cultural creativity industry exchange.
“The TSU is ready to stage protests if Chen made any comments unrelated to the objective of his trip and jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty,” TSU caucus whip Hsu Chung-hsin (許忠信) said.
As always, Hsu added, Chen appears to be using the visit as an opportunity to bolster Beijing’s united-front effort.
Chen is scheduled to visit many temples, including the Tzuchi Temple in Hualien, the Chung Tai Temple in Nantou and the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung — a strange arrangement, given that religious freedom is not yet protected in China, which is an atheist country, Hsu said.
“We suspect that Chen intends to take advantage of Taiwanese people’s religious beliefs to preach the united-front ideology,” Hsu said.