For the people of Taiwan who think setting new records for the Guinness Book of World Records is really cool, Feb. 15 was a day worth remembering. Coordinated demonstrations against a war in Iraq were held in 300 cities around the world, setting in motion the greatest social movement in the history of mankind. The New York Times was surprised to find that on that day, another superpower was rising in the world outside of the US -- world opinion.
On the surface of things, the people of Taiwan did participate in the event. The Labor Rights Association, coolloud.org and over 30 other left-leaning social movements and groups arranged a demonstration on the streets of Taipei. But despite the large number of groups, they couldn't mobilize more than 300 or 400 participants. In an age when demonstrations frequently attract tens of thousands, these were of course paltry sums. Comparison with our neighbors, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea leaves Taiwan far behind.
Such low participation levels could in fact have been expected. Ever since the US said it was going to attack Iraq, Taiwanese media as a group have handled the issue simply by inserting items of eye-catching news from wire services into their international coverage. Even if they have their own debate going, the topic is most often limited to the impact a war would have on Taiwan's economy. With the media lacking interest, people in general are confused and undecided about the issue, and far from ready to participate in anti-war demonstrations.
There are reasons for the media's silence. During these last few months, intellectuals have maintained almost complete silence on the constantly increasing risk of war in the Persian Gulf.
University students, as always, are concentrating on classes and leisure as if they were in Utopia.
Given this background, it is not surprising that criticism was muted when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently declared that Taiwan supports a US attack on Iraq, saying, "We stand on the just side of mainstream international society."
Upholding justice means clinging to Uncle Sam's leg. This is obviously far too simplistic, but Taiwanese society has barely reacted to such preposterous and mistaken reasoning.
Taiwanese coolness towards the anti-war issue actually reflects the difficulties facing social movements in Taiwan. We can say that social movements in Taiwan have been thriving this past year, from the protests against increases in National Health Insurance fees and the farmers' and fishermen's protests, to the plastics industry's protests against the policy to restrict the use of plastic bags. But looking at the fundamental characteristics of such movements, even going as far back as the early period after martial law, we find that they are still basically self-serving.
Protesters take to the streets mainly because they are becoming personally affected by an issue, as if anyone not pursuing his own interests will be punished by the gods. While self-serving motives are not reprehensible, altruistic protests on behalf of others are very rare. The Taiwanese attitude toward unfairness around oneself has always been that everyone should keep their own doorstep clear. A war in the Persian Gulf, on the other side of the world, naturally "has nothing do with me."
Wherein lies the legitimacy of an attack on Iraq? To this day, the US government has been unable to prove any connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda, or that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction.
No one doubts that the US would win a war, but whether such a war would bring peace remains questionable. Iraq is like a Pandora's box -- once it is opened, the already unstable situation in the Middle East may very well become much more tense. Muslim antagonism towards the West will deepen, fundamentalist terrorist activity will proliferate and the world will find itself in an uneasy, vicious cycle.
A lot of people would rather believe that the reason the US still intends to attack Iraq is, in fact, that it covets Iraqi oil. It is precisely such concerns that have made them come out in opposition to war.
Opposition to war is an expression of the kind of humanism that says that we are all brothers, all part of Creation. Opponents of war are not only concerned about the deepening plight of the people of Iraq, but also about the safety of the American and British soldiers that will fight the war.
As members of the global village, the people of Taiwan should think deep -- why is it that, at a time when the call against war is rising, Taiwan is so far removed from world opinion and the values of mainstream international society?
Huang Jui-ming as an assistant professor in the department of labor relations, National Chung Cheng University. Translated by Perry Svensson
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