Several public figures yesterday took to Facebook to comment on the first anniversary of the Sunflower movement, affirming the movement’s achievement in upholding democracy and challenging the existing political structure.
“The movement originated in public discontent with the manipulated cross-strait relations at the hands of Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and Chinese Communist Party, and domestically, with [issues of] the nation’s economy, politics, democracy, social equality and intergenerational justice,” Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) of the Democratic Progressive Party said in a post about the rallies from March 18 to April 10 last year protesting the central government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact.
“The Sunflower movement not only held back the cross-strait service pact, but unseated those who benefited from the dwanguo (黨國, party-state) system in last year’s elections — the largest local elections the nation has ever had,” he added. “The movement bears witness to young Taiwanese’s undaunted determination to defend democracy and social justice.”
Photo: AFP
“The 318 student movement was a historic awakening of the public consciousness, which greatly influenced my election,” independent Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) wrote, referring to his victory in the nine-in-one elections last year that also saw a landslide against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
“It was a movement in which the people of Taiwan, especially the younger generations, began to pay attention to what was going on around them and care about politics, ” Ko said.
Award-winning writer Neil Peng (馮光遠) wrote that “the movement overturned Taiwan’s politics, and young people’s active participation converted into the electoral achievement in last year’s elections.”
“I would like to say a ‘thank you’ to all those young people who are fighting for Taiwan’s future and dignity,” he said.
Chou Wei-hang (周偉航), a Fu Jen Catholic University assistant professor known online as Ninjia Text (人渣文本), said that judging the movement by its goal of withholding the cross-strait service agreement, “the movement was successful, as the agreement has not yet come into effect.”
“I have observed an overhaul in the ethical structure in Taiwanese society over the past year,” he added, citing instances in which more citizens are challenging power structures in pursuit of social justice.
Taiwan Solidarity Union secretary-general Lin Chih-chia (林志嘉) asked whether the nation should celebrate Youth Day on March 29 — an official holiday commemorating revolutionaries who died in the Second Guangzhou Uprising against the Qing Dynasty in 1911 — or on March 18.
Netizens overwhelmingly responded in favor of rescheduling of the holiday, saying: “318 should be Taiwan’s Youth Day” and “329 has nothing to do with Taiwan.”
Additional reporting by Abraham Gerber and Hung Jui-ching
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS