Around the time of the presidential election, members of the international media congregated in Taiwan, and their dispatches made headline news on international news channels such as CNN and the BBC. This displayed Taiwan's democratic situation for the whole world to see, warts and all.
TV cameras want blood, and journalists always look for the most exciting angle, so riot police were frequently seen. The night scenery on Ketagalan Boulevard against the backdrop of a line of shields warding off protesters in front of the Presidential Office offers a further associative framework. Close physical encounters in front of close-up cameras showing people being dragged or carried away leave Taiwan's young and inexperienced democracy lying naked on a stretcher.
In contrast to visual media, words leave room for reasoning. Chinese-language publications sometimes include articles exploring the presidential election, the ensuing developments within the political parties, the generational change and ethnic relations from the perspective of deepening democracy. Foreign English-language media also provide intermittent objective appraisals of democracy in Taiwan. The South China Morning Post, for example, wrote March 30 that "Fortunately, law and order has been maintained even as the controversy drags on. This speaks volumes about the maturity of Taiwanese society and the restraint of the citizen."
There was no obvious electoral fraud, according to "Twisting the logic of democracy," by Joseph Chang (
In other words, Taiwan should not underestimate itself. Although all this took place in the open for everyone to see, a little extra effort will make everyone aware of Taiwan's resilience, which in fact also is the resilience of democracy.
Democracy provides society with a mechanism for learning. It allows the public to understand standards and change past behavior through practical implementation.
Because this is a social conflict that everyone is following intently, people have learned why, when two parties are involved in a conflict and neither party wants to stand down, it is the judiciary that best calms the two parties down -- intense emotions will be cooled when handled with logical language as courts, transparently and openly, find concrete, feasible solutions.
During the first hearing before a full court, Judge Wu Ching-yuan (
The political quarrel is no more than just that: a quarrel. Emotional language does not help to resolve issues when an independent judiciary issues a public decision that both parties respect and abide by.
I feel that Taiwan has been wronged. With the emotional scenes of the past weeks still fresh in our minds, the aspects of reason in the follow-up have not caught the attention of foreign media. I am not afraid of continued attention, but rather that foreign media will lose interest in Taiwan. As long as they maintain their interest, they will see the progressing learning experience in Taiwanese society, including the self-adjusting democratic system and the continued mediation of all issues within the legal system.
Ping Lu is an author.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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