FILE – People throw smoke grenades during recent protests in front of the Presidential Office, Taipei, Taiwan, May 2015.
May 23, 2015 1:58 PM
TAIPEI—Protesters calling for Taiwan not to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank clashed with unidentified men in black T-shirts outside a meeting of officials from the two administrations on a Taiwanese island on Saturday.
Police held back up to 70 banner-waving activists, mainly from a Taiwanese pro-independence party, some of whom were kicked and punched by the men, media coverage showed.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union, which organized the rally, accused China of being behind the attacks, without going into further detail. Chinese state media coverage of the meeting did not mention the clashes.
Anti-China activists have launched regular demonstrations in Taiwan in recent months, saying they fear economic colonization from the mainland after nearly a decade of slow rapprochement between the historic enemies.
In an apparent acknowledgement of the tensions, Taiwan’s top China policy minister, Andrew Hsia, told his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, that any improvement in ties would need public support.
Zhang invited Hsia to China for a visit, without giving details of a venue or date, a sign that the prolonged talks would continue.
“We hope the mainland side can truly understand and realize that only on the basis of dignity, respect, peace and security can cross-strait relations have lasting stability,” said Hsia, minister of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, in his opening remarks. “The key to the future of cross-strait relations lies in public support.”
“Both sides should be determined to protect cross-strait relations from U-turns and setbacks, which are also the common aspirations of compatriots across the Strait,” said Zhang, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office director, according to the official Xinhua News Agency Saturday.
