Protest a victory for Taiwan people: Tsai

Tsai said Thursday’s “Operation Siege” that saw 100,000 people protesting the visit by China’s top envoy has delivered a message to Beijing that cross-strait ties cannot be dictated by President Ma Ying jeou or the ruling Kuomintang alone.

“They must have the support of Taiwan people,” said Tsai.

Prior to his meeting with the China envoy, Ma was forced by the “power of the people” to reiterate that Taiwan’s future must be determined by the entire nation.

Such a reiteration thwarted China’s plot to turn the Ma-Chen meet into an occasion to “dwarf” Taiwan’s sovereignty, the DPP chief claimed.

The protest actions also sent a message to the international media that Taiwan’s people did not welcome Chen Yunlin, head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS).

The anti-Chen actions prevented the KMT’s welcome for the China envoy from overwhelming the coverage by the international media, she said.

But Tsai said she may met with Chen if there is a chance.

She said she would relay to Chen Taiwan’s determination to remain a sovereign state if she met him.

“I am not opposed to meeting Chen,” she said. “I will tell him what we tried to tell President Ma.”

Operation Siege, which was meant to have opposition supporters demonstrate outside the Taipei Guest House during the Ma-Chen meet, ran wild late in the night when hundreds of them rioted outside the Taipei Grand Hotel, where the ARATS chief was staying.

The rioters pelted police with stones and petrol bombs before they were dispersed early Friday morning.

But Tsai dismissed the labeling of the DPP as a “violent party,” saying anyone attempting to portray the DPP so is trying blur the focus.

She said if the Ma administration apologizes for its violations of the human rights, and formally demands China to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, then the people will not have to take to the streets.

She blamed the clashes on the police’s over-protection for Chen, and accused police of using excessive force and of violating human rights during the dispersal.

“The Ma administration went from ‘protecting Chen Yunlin’s safety’ to ‘preventing Chen Yunlin from seeing the protests’ — that’s the main reason for the clashes,” Tsai argued.

She demanded Ma retract his description of the ties between Taiwan and China as that between two “districts.”

But KMT Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said the clashes set bad examples for Taiwan’s democracy.

Although the protest actions allowed the Chinese guests to understand more about the island, Taiwan should also make adjustments to show more hospitality and rationality towards Chinese and foreign visitors.

He said he hopes last week’s incidents were temporary, and that cross-strait ties will become more harmonious, paving the way to eventual peace.

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