Taipei: Students at National Taiwan University (NTU) gathered on Tuesday to protest the arrival of around 40 Chinese students and faculty invited by the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation. Protesters shouted and held signs with slogans including "This is not China Taipei," "Support China's Democratization," "Redress the Tiananmen Square Incident," and "Support Hong Kong democracy and freedom" on the first floor of the College of Social Sciences (COSS). According to Focus Taiwan, the Chinese visitors arrived shortly after 10 a.m. and briskly walked past the demonstration. Some protesters were shouting, "NTU students love freedom" and "We want equal exchanges." NTU President Chen Wen-chang and COSS Dean Chang Yu-tzung were also present at the protest site to monitor the situation. The group of Chinese students and teachers, which included Olympic gold medalists Ma Long and Yang Qian, were invited by the China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou Foundation for a nine-day visit from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5. The foundation's CEO Hsiao Hsu-tse n stated in November that the delegation led by Tsinghua University's Communist Party Secretary Qiu Yong is intended to promote people-to-people exchanges between China and Taiwan. "We support Chinese students coming to Taiwan for exchanges, but it should be based on equality and openness," said a third-year NTU student, surnamed Chang, who attended the protest. Chang expressed a desire to participate in the exchange but noted that the college and student union informed students that the delegation's trip was "confidential." Chang added that Taiwanese students wanted to communicate with the Chinese visitors about law, democracy, and human rights. The Chinese delegation's visit, authorized by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, was criticized for enabling the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda claims about Taiwan. Chairman of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), Eric Chu, defended the delegation's visit last week, stating that it would "strengthen the cross-strait relationship." Chu mentioned, without elab orating, that it should "in fact not be at all surprising" that the delegation members are all part of either the Communist Party or the Communist Youth League, as reported by the Taiwanese media citing a Taiwanese intelligence source. In addition to NTU, other Taiwanese educational institutions including National Tsing Hua University, National Chengchi University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Chinese Culture University, Chang Gung University, and Taipei Municipal Zhong Shan Girls High School are on the delegation's itinerary.
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