NTU students protest Ma Ying-jeou Foundation's Chinese delegation

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) 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).

Arriving shortly after 10 a.m., the Chinese visitors entered the building and briskly walked past the demonstration. Some protesters were shouting, "NTU students love freedom" and "We want equal exchanges."

NTU President Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) and COSS Dean Chang Yu-tzung (張佑宗) 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 (馬龍) and Yang Qian (楊倩), were invited by the China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou Foundation for a nine-day visit from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5.

According to a statement from the foundation's CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) in November, the delegation led by Tsinghua University's Communist Party Secretary Qiu Yong (邱勇) 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 (張), who attended the protest.

Chang wanted to take part in the exchange, but said the college and student union told students that the delegation's trip was "confidential."

"We feel that [the Chinese delegation] arrived in Taiwan, but then there was no more interaction," Chang said, adding 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 (朱立倫), defended the delegation's visit last week, saying it would "strengthen the cross-strait relationship."

Chu said, without elaborating, that it should "in fact not be at all surprising" that the delegation are all members of either the Communist Party or the Communist Youth League, as was reported in 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.