Taiwanese heard worldwide
Yes, worldwide Taiwanese are singing. This time they sing along with the students. Dear students you are not alone.
On Saturday, the rain was pouring in downtown San Francisco but it did not scare the protestors in the Bay Area. Just like the youth who had bravely borne brutal state violence, the rain did not change the protesters’ wills at all.
The attendees started to gather at noon while it was raining hard. The San Francisco rally had the most participants of the 44 related protests held on March 29 and 30 around the world.
The program started at 1pm sharp and drew more than a thousand people. Most of the attendees were from the younger generation. Of course, the older folks were there: They are never absent from protesting against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Why do the overseas Taiwanese endorse the “Sunflower student movement?” It is because the Ma government signed the cross-strait service trade agreement with China in a darkroom. We need sunflowers to bring sunshine and uncover all the dirty tricks.
All the protesters were angry at the bloody crackdown on the unarmed students on Monday last week. They condemned Ma’s dictatorship over Taiwan. Ma did not admit guilt, he turned around and accused the students of being a mob. Is it fair? Ma’s government signed the trade agreement with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without legislative authorization. Is that legal?
What is the service trade pact? Why did the students oppose it? It is an open door for China to grab the mom-and-pop businesses in Taiwan without setting any quotas? It allows Chinese investors to move to Taiwan and become citizens within four years. China has a population of 1.3 billion — about 60 times that of Taiwan. Taiwan’s population is less than 2 percent of China’s and will eventually be diluted. It is a criminal act of ethnic cleansing. We shall stop it.
Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz has said there are three basic requirements to sign a trade agreement: transparency, equality and national interest.
First, the KMT signed the service trade agreement with the PRC in a darkroom. Even the Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) did not know about it. So how was it transparent to the public?
Second, the pact asks Taiwanese to serve in China, not in Taiwan. If all Taiwanese moved to China, they would be silently swallowed by the 1.3 billion. Is that equality?
Third, the pact asks Taiwanese to serve in China and opens the door for Chinese to grab jobs in Taiwan. The nation’s capital, labor, technology and service skills are now being drained to China. Taiwan is dying. The service trade agreement is only beneficial to the KMT or some special interest enterprises such as Foxconn or HTC. Is it for Taiwan’s national interest?
Under the Taiwan Relations Act passed by the US Congress in 1979, the US monitors Taiwan’s security, peace and prosperity. We do hope US President Barack Obama can hear the singing of the Taiwanese this time.
Formosans should not be betrayed again.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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