Taiwan opposition rallies against President Ma (Roundup)

May 17, 2009, 11:34 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) demonstrated Sunday against President Ma Ying-jeou's pro- China policies, which it fears will lead to the island's unification with Beijing.

'Ma Ying-jeou, step down,' 'Denounce selling out Taiwan,' 'Oppose one China,' and 'Oppose the impotent government,' shouted the demonstrators as they unfurled banners and waved green DPP flags in marching towards the Presidential Office in Taipei via four routes.

Some protesters stepped on posters printed with Ma's picture, others beat stuffed toys in the image of a horse's head to vent their wrath on Ma, whose last name in Chinese means horse.

Led by prominent DPP officials, including former Taiwan's vice president Annette Lu and former premiers Su Tseng-chang,Frank Hsieh and Yu Shyi-kun, tens of thousands of protesters took part in the march, which created a traffic standstill in Taipei.

While the DPP said more than 600,000 joined in the protest, police estimated the number at no more than 100,000.

The protesters ended their march outside the Presidential Office where they planned to stage an overnight sit-in.

DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen said her pro-independence party staged the protest to voice its opposition to Ma's cross-strait, economic and human rights policies, which have seriously hurt Taiwan.

'Ma Ying-jeou fails to take care of the interests of the people in Taiwan, and because of his pro-China policy, many Taiwanese people are suffering,' she said.

She was referring to Ma's decision to liberalise cross-strait economic exchanges, including direct flight, shipping, mail service and Chinese investments in Taiwan.

There was a similar protest organized by several pro-independence groups in the southern city of Kaohsiung with demonstrators burning the effigies of Ma and China President Hu Jintao to signify their opposition to Ma's engagement policy towards Beijing.

The protesters in Kaohsiung also demanded the acquittal of ex- president Chen Shui-bian, who is on trial for corruption. They marched through the city to the Central Park for an evening rally.

Tsai warned that Sunday's march was the start of a series of protests against Ma, and said the DPP does not rule out seeking to impeach Ma, who was inaugurated on May 20, 2008.

Ma, from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), won the 2008 election on a platform of seeking peace with China and revitalizing Taiwan's economy.

On Sunday, Ma said he understood the frustration of the DPP protesters over rising unemployment in Taiwan due to global downturn. He said he would do all he could to improve the condition.

He also defended his China policy, saying he is always concerned about Taiwan's sovereignty in dealing with China, a rival since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

'I ask all of you not to be worried. In our talks with the mainland so far, we have adhered to the principles of dignity, equality and reciprocity and we have never lost our sovereignty.'

Ma said Taiwan's current participation in the World Health Assembly as an observer in the name of Chinese-Taipei is the result of his policy to engage China. Beijing, which considers Taiwan an integral part of China, has dropped its longstanding opposition to Taipei taking part in WHA, which requires statehood for participation.

In the past year, Taiwan has held three dialogues with China and opened sea, air, postal and tourism links.

While many Taiwanese welcome the economic gains and easing of cross-strait tension, some worry that Taiwan is moving too close to China because Beijing's goal is Taiwan-China unification.

But in several recent interviews, Ma reiterated his inauguration pledge that during his four-year term, he would not discuss unification with China, and Taiwan would not declare independence as long as Beijing does not attack the island militarily.