Scrap repressive laws
As Taiwan was making its first steps in the early 1990s toward democracy, two pieces of legislation that were designed to constrain constitutional change and the public’s ability to protest were passed. They were the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法).
The former codified the relationship between Taiwan and China as between the “Taiwan area” and the “Mainland area” and set restrictions on any change to the official name and nature of this relationship, while the latter was little more than a legacy of martial law, designed to assuage “Mainlander” fears that democracy might bring substantive protests by a public tired of “rulership without accountability.”
Both these laws are now playing a critical role in allowing the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), heavily influenced by old Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) guard such as National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), to forge ahead with rolling back Taiwan to the early 1990s in terms of its identity and relations with China.
When questioned by the media and public on Taiwan’s status and identity, the KMT administration has attempted, without success, to inveigle Taiwanese into believing that their country is only an area of the Republic of China — a polity that officially still claims the territory currently administered by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The cross-strait relations act mentioned above is referred to as an answer to those who argue that Taiwanese sovereignty is at risk from the Ma administration’s arguably reckless haste to comport with the PRC. When Ma says that Taiwan’s sovereignty is not at risk, he is telling the truth since from his perspective sovereignty belongs solely to the ROC and not Taiwan or its citizens.
Furthermore, through “education and cultural exchanges,” including preparations for the forthcoming non-event of the ROC centennial, the government is crudely and transparently seeking to re-educate Taiwanese into thinking that they are Chinese, nationally and otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Assembly and Parade Law is being selectively used to clamp down on protest, legitimate or otherwise, and public freedom of movement and expression. People can protest anywhere, anytime, as long as it is not somewhere important or meaningful, for example near the presidential and government offices.
Fortunately, many Taiwanese reject these arbitrary rules but risk imprisonment as a consequence.
Though very successful, the Wild Strawberry Student Movement was sadly ridiculed by a largely pro-KMT media and disgracefully ignored by the over-proud Wild Lily generation, whose hubris prevented them from standing to be counted alongside the students when it mattered most. The Wild Strawberries, still active today, stood alone against Ma and Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) patronizing belittlement of their cause.
If Taiwanese want to remain masters of their own house, they need to demand that their legislators scrap these “birdcage” laws that are designed to inhibit consolidation of democracy, create a legal foundation for annexation into China and neutralize public anger at anti-democratic attempts to rob Taiwanese of their national sovereignty.
Ben Goren
Tainan
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) has repeatedly voiced concern over the weakening cost competitiveness of its US fabs and challenged the US’ “on-shore” policy of building domestic semiconductor capacity. Yet not once has the government said anything, even though the economy is highly dependent on the chip industry. In the US, the cost of operating a semiconductor factory is at least twice the amount required to operate one in Taiwan, rather than the 50 percent he had previously calculated, Chang said on Thursday last week at a forum arranged by CommonWealth Magazine. He said that he had
The Twenty-Four Histories (中國廿四史) is a collection of official Chinese dynastic histories from Records of the Grand Historian (史記) to the History of the Ming Dynasty (明史) that cover the time from the legendary Yellow Emperor (黃帝) to the Chongzhen Emperor (崇禎), the last Ming emperor. History is written by the victors. These histories are not merely records of the rise and fall of emperors, they also demonstrate the ways in which conquerors embellished their own achievements while deriding those of the conquered. The history written by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is no exception. The PRC presents its
The International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued on Friday last week for Russian President Vladimir Putin delighted Uighurs, as Putin’s today signals Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) tomorrow. The crimes committed by Xi are many times more serious than what Putin has been accused of. Putin has caused more than 8 million people to flee Ukraine. By imprisoning more than 3 million Uighurs in concentration camps and restricting the movement of more than 10 million Uighurs, Xi has not only denied them the opportunity to live humanely, but also the opportunity to escape oppression. The 8 million Ukrainians who fled
In August 2013, Reuters reported that Beijing had been gaining soft power with investment commitments and trade with countries in Latin America. However, instead of jumping on the chance to make new allies, China stalled requests to establish diplomatic relations with the countries to avoid galling Taiwanese voters. Beijing was also courting then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), and the tactic left China with a trump card if cross-strait relations turned cool. China had rebuffed at least five countries’ requests to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing, the report said, quoting a China analyst. Honduras could become the ninth diplomatic ally, and also the fifth