Survey finds young adults worried about unification

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

In an opinion poll published yesterday, young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 29 showed the most serious concerns about unification with China and the highest support rate for Taiwanese independence — if maintaining the “status quo” became unsustainable.

The survey, conducted by the pro-independence Taiwan Brain Trust on Saturday and Sunday, found that “young people’s concerns about the inevitable eventual unification are clear,” the think tank’s president, Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), told a news conference in Taipei.

Sunflower leaders reject Ma’s conference plan

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Sunflower movement students and other activists yesterday rejected a proposal by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to hold a national affairs conference on economics and trade instead of the citizens’ constitutional conference they had called for, saying it was a “typical Ma tactic of superficial promises and substantial lies.”

Student leaders and civic groups say a citizens’ constitutional conference is needed because the nation’s current constitutional crisis and malfunctioning government.

TRADE PACT SIEGE: DPP voices conditional support for service trade pact

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that it has never opposed free trade and would support the cross-strait service trade agreement if it was negotiated according to due process and based on the principles of reciprocity and fairness.

The Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily yesterday reported that Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) of the DPP said she “conditionally supported” the pact if the agreement “adhered to due process and contained a complete set of supplementary policies that would benefit Taiwan’s economy.”

TRADE PACT SIEGE: DPP to boycott legislative review of trade agreement

UNDEMOCRATIC:A student leader said that KMT Legislator Chang Ching-chung should not serve as convener since he has lost legitimacy
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would boycott the review of the cross-strait service trade agreement by the Legislative Yuan’s joint committee today and tomorrow.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠), convener of the meeting this week, has placed the service trade agreement on the agenda to review the deal clause-by-clause.

DPP concerned about gangster interference

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Wed, Apr 02, 2014 - Page 1

Reports showed that gangsters were involved in the pro-cross strait service trade pact counterprotest organized by former Bamboo Union leader Chang An-le (張安樂) against the Sunflower movement at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said.

It called for Chang’s bail to be revoked in light of his alleged contravention of the rules of his release.

Chang, who now leads the China Unification Promotion Party, was released on NT$1 million (US$33,000) bail within hours of his return to Taiwan on June 29 last year after 17 years on the run.

No quick end to student protest: DPP

PUBLIC FEARS:A DPP official said Ma has yet to realize that many people are worried that the service trade pact would have greater political than economic implications
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The political deadlock between students occupying the Legislative Yuan and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is unlikely to end soon, because Ma is not willing to concede and has been evading the students’ demands, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials said yesterday.

“When students demanded the organization of a citizens’ constitutional conference, Ma said he would convene a national trade conference instead. Knowing Ma, that was the kind of thing he always did — evading the core issue and shifting the focus to something else,” DPP Policy Research Committee executive director Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.

TRADE PACT SIEGE: Another round of inter-party talks on crisis breaks down

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The fifth round of inter-party negotiations regarding a political deadlock related to the student-led occupation of the legislature broke down yesterday as party caucuses failed to reach consensus on how to resolve the ongoing crisis.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said it would participate in a review of the cross-strait service trade agreement clause-by-clause under two conditions, KMT caucus deputy secretary Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said after the talks, which were held at the home of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平).

TRADE PACT SIEGE: AIT board member raises questions over DPP’s role

POISON PEN?：David Brown said in a letter to a US newsletter the party supports the student protesters because it ‘suits the DPP’s election mobilization goals’
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Tue, Apr 01, 2014 - Page 3

A letter by an American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) board member alleging that the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) motive in supporting the “illegal occupation” of the legislature by the so-called “Sunflower student movement” is for political gains in upcoming elections, and which challenges as undemocratic the party’s history of physically blocking legislative proceedings, has raised discussion in political circles and the media.

David Brown, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and former US foreign service officer, wrote the letter to the Nelson Report, a Washington daily newsletter, in response to a letter by DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), which was also published in the newsletter.

Pact supporters to confront students

By Rich Chang  /  Staff reporter
Tue, Apr 01, 2014 - Page 1

Groups opposed to the student-led occupation of the Legislative Yuan yesterday said they would lead a rally to the legislature in Taipei to talk to the students today, with former Bamboo Union leader Chang An-le (張安樂) pledging full support for the action.

The groups include the Taiwan Labor Welfare Alliance, Taipei City General Union and representatives from various industries and unions.

EDITORIAL: Implications of the “Sunflowers”

Tue, Apr 01, 2014 - Page 8

A mass rally of about half a million people on Sunday punctuated the two-week-old “Sunflower student movement.” The students vowed to continue their occupation until President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) gives in to mainstream public opinion.

While the globally renowned movement is ongoing, now is a good time to reflect upon the largest Taiwanese student movement in the last 20 years. We might also consider the implications of an event that is destined to be a historic chapter in the nation’s development.