Chinese cancel Taiwan trips after violence

Written by Writer on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Chinese cancel Taiwan trips after violence

TAIPEI, Taiwan — At least two groups of Chinese officials have canceled plans to visit Taiwan because of violent protests against a Chinese envoy when he visited the island last week, a Taiwanese official said Monday.

The Chinese called off the trips after protesters clashed with police during the bridge-building trip by envoy Chen Yunlin, ruling Nationalist Party spokeswoman Chen Chu-jung said, though she declined to identify which delegations had canceled.

“They may not have acted on government orders, but were concerned about their own safety,” she said.

Taiwanese media have said Chongqing Deputy Mayor Huang Qifan canceled a planned visit to Taipei this week, though it was not clear if this was one of the trips that the spokeswoman was referring to.

While in Taiwan, the Chinese envoy signed several deals to expand transport links with the island.

Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, which fears closer economic ties with the mainland pave the way for a political union, organized a series of demonstrations during the Nov. 3-7 trip.

At one point, protesters threw stones and other objects at police. At another time, they surrounded a hotel where the Chinese envoy was having dinner, preventing him from leaving until after midnight.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said any moves to formalize the island’s de facto independence would be met with war. The sides split amid civil war in 1949.

Lin Yu-fang, a Nationalist lawmaker, said Chinese leaders may be reluctant to let the protests affect their warming ties with Taiwan, but hard-liners could play up the violence.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008 9:38 am TWN, AP