臺灣驅散反兩岸貿易協定抗議者

Riot police cleared Taiwan’s Cabinet offices of scores of protesters opposed to a trade pact with China on Monday after a last-minute plea from President Ma Ying-jeou failed to defuse a five-day stand-off.

臺灣防暴警察週一驅散了滯留在行政院辦公室的數十名反對與中國大陸簽訂貿易協定的抗議者。在此之前，臺灣總統馬英九曾試圖與抗議者達成和解，結束長達5天的對峙，但沒有成功。

At least 58 protesters were arrested and dozens injured in the clashes which represent a sharp escalation in tensions over the island’s developing ties with mainland China. The police had been ordered to evict the protesters after the executive compound was occupied late on Sunday night.

在這次衝突中，至少有58名抗議者被捕，數十人受傷。近年來，圍繞是否要與中國大陸加深經貿往來，臺灣內部存在着緊張對立，而最新衝突表明這種緊張關係正在加劇。週日晚，在抗議者佔領行政院大樓後，臺灣警方接到了驅逐這些抗議者的命令。

Demonstrators had staged a sit-in at the Taiwanese legislature since Tuesday to protest the fast-tracking of an accord to lower the barriers on trade in services, making it easier for mainland Chinese companies to invest in Taiwan and vice versa. The sit-in had drawn crowds of supporters to the surrounding streets and demonstrations of support from Taiwanese living overseas.

自上週二以來，示威者一直在臺灣立法院靜坐，抗議臺灣當局匆忙簽訂一份降低服務業貿易壁壘的協定。這一協定會讓中國大陸企業更易於投資臺灣，同時臺灣企業對大陸的投資門檻也會相應降低。這一靜坐活動吸引了成羣結隊的支持者，他們聚集在立法院周邊的街道上。與此同時，一些居住在海外的臺灣人也表達了對抗議者的聲援。

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taipei and does not maintain diplomatic relations with nations that recognise Taiwan. Opponents of the trade deal fear it would give mainland China too much control over the economy of independently-governed Taiwan.

中國政府宣稱對臺灣擁有主權；對於承認臺灣有獨立主權的國家，北京方面會終止兩國間的外交關係。這一貿易協定的反對者擔心，它可能會賦予中國大陸對臺灣經濟的過多控制權，令原本獨立自主的臺灣經濟上受制於人。

The protests come after several years of warming relations and growing economic integration between China and Taiwan, whose unresolved conflicts are one of the biggest potential flashpoints in Asia.

在這次抗議活動爆發之前的幾年裏，中國大陸和臺灣的關係不斷升溫，經濟整合日益加強。然而，兩者間仍未從根源上解決的矛盾卻是亞洲最大的潛在導火索之一。

Taiwan’s ruling Kuomingtang party, which fled mainland China after losing a civil war to the Communists in 1949, supports the pact, as do many Taiwanese industrialists with extensive investments in the mainland.

臺灣目前當政的國民黨(Kuomingtang)於1949年內戰失敗後逃至臺灣。國民黨對這一貿易協定持支持態度。同樣支持該協定的，還包括許多在大陸有大量投資的臺灣實業家。

President Ma, whose administration has signed a number of trade and economic agreements with mainland China, defended the pact and called for crowds to go home in a press conference on Sunday. “I tell you once again, with a responsible attitude, that this is completely for the sake of Taiwan’s economic future,” he said.

週日，臺灣總統馬英九曾在記者招待會上爲該協定辯護，呼籲人們回到家中。他說：“我要再次以負責任的態度向各位報告，這完全是爲了臺灣經濟的未來。”馬英九政府自當政以來，已和大陸簽下一系列經貿協定。

The opposition Democratic Progressive party warned that opening the services sector to Chinese ownership would tighten Beijing’s grip on the much smaller island of Taiwan. The DPP lacks the votes to block the pact when it comes up for final parliamentary review on April 8.

反對黨民進黨(Democratic Progressive)則警告說，將服務業企業的所有權向中國大陸人開放，可能會令中國政府加強對臺灣的控制。這一協定將於4月8日提交立法院終審，民進黨屆時將缺乏足夠選票阻止該協定通過。

The Taiwanese economy is already heavily dependent on China. Local banks had the equivalent of $64.92bn in exposure to Chinese loans, investments and interbank deposits at the end of December, or one-quarter of total, according to central bank data, leaving them more exposed to China than any other country.

臺灣經濟已嚴重依賴中國大陸。根據臺灣央行的數據，去年12月底，臺灣當地銀行對大陸貸款、投資及銀行間存款的風險敞口達649.2億美元，佔臺灣當地銀行對外總風險敞口的四分之一。這一數字令這些銀行對中國大陸的依賴程度超過了對其他任何國家的依賴。