Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

A protester scuffles with police officers yesterday as China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Deming arrives at the Cross-Strait CEO Summit in Taipei’s Xinyi District.
Photo: Reuters

After a week-long trip around Taiwan dogged by persistent protests, China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) Chairman Chen Deming (陳德銘) returned to Taipei yesterday to attend the annual Cross-Strait CEO Summit — only to be greeted by more demonstrations.

Although the summit purports to facilitate business relationships across the Taiwan Strait, critics say the meeting in effect allows the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to formulate decisions on cross-strait trade policies while circumventing legislative and administrative procedures.

The results of the recently concluded nine-in-one elections have given the overseas Taiwanese community new hope for the nation’s future. These elections demonstrated that Taiwanese are willing to work hard for their freedom and preserve their vibrant democracy.

For the first time since the transition to democracy in the early 1990s, Taiwan has a more level political playing field. Until now, elections were too often determined by who had the most money, power and influence.