While thousands of people took to the streets on Sunday in cities around the world to speak out against gender inequality and violence against women on International Women’s Day, Taiwan was relatively quiet.
This was partly due to many events, including the Women’s March Taiwan, being canceled, downsized or moved online due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
However, in a nation where women’s rights are relatively advanced, there does not seem to be the urgency to protest and fight back, compared with, for example, Mexico, where an average of 10 women are killed per day.
In conservative nations, such as Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan, women risked their lives just to march, and there were crackdowns against demonstrators in various cities and open threats from the patriarchy.
Instead of a public outcry against the exploitation of women, the mood in Taiwan seemed to be celebratory, as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) thanked the women in various roles on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19, while countless businesses offered discounts and special deals for female customers on Sunday.
The Foundation of Women’s Rights Promotion and Development hailed Taiwan being named Asia’s leader in gender equality last month by the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law project, noting that the nation is far ahead of its neighbors in female participation in politics, workplace equality as well as respect for and acceptance of gender diversity.
However, just how equal is the regional leader in equality? The numbers show that things are far from equal. For example, the Ministry of Labor last week said that there was still a 14.2 percent wage gap last year between men and women, although that number was the lowest it has ever been — down from 17.9 percent in 2009 — and significantly better than those of Japan, South Korea and the US.
So Taiwan should be proud, but it should also be wary of creating an atmosphere where people feel that complete gender equality has been achieved.
A survey by online job bank yes123 released last week found that more than half of female respondents have experienced workplace discrimination, especially regarding plans for marriage and children or their appearance.
There is still some way to go in societal attitudes and breaking stereotypes. While Taiwan has the highest proportion of female legislators of any parliament in Asia — more than 40 percent — misogynistic and homophobic remarks still marred the recent presidential election campaign.
From digs against Tsai for being single and childless to ridiculous, unnecessary, sexist remarks, Taiwan’s politicians set an awful example for their constituents, belying the nation’s progressive standings.
Other gender issues that should not be overlooked include Taiwan lagging behind more than 80 percent of the world’s nations in the length of maternity leave, the significant gender disparity and difficulty of female advancement in the better-paying high-tech sectors.
So yes, there is a lot to be happy about — especially in a world where it is often unsafe just to be female — but there is obviously still much work and education to be done.
A few weeks ago in Kaohsiung, tech mogul turned political pundit Robert Tsao (曹興誠) joined Western Washington University professor Chen Shih-fen (陳時奮) for a public forum in support of Taiwan’s recall campaign. Kaohsiung, already the most Taiwanese independence-minded city in Taiwan, was not in need of a recall. So Chen took a different approach: He made the case that unification with China would be too expensive to work. The argument was unusual. Most of the time, we hear that Taiwan should remain free out of respect for democracy and self-determination, but cost? That is not part of the usual script, and
Behind the gloating, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) must be letting out a big sigh of relief. Its powerful party machine saved the day, but it took that much effort just to survive a challenge mounted by a humble group of active citizens, and in areas where the KMT is historically strong. On the other hand, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) must now realize how toxic a brand it has become to many voters. The campaigners’ amateurism is what made them feel valid and authentic, but when the DPP belatedly inserted itself into the campaign, it did more harm than good. The
For nearly eight decades, Taiwan has provided a home for, and shielded and nurtured, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). After losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the KMT fled to Taiwan, bringing with it hundreds of thousands of soldiers, along with people who would go on to become public servants and educators. The party settled and prospered in Taiwan, and it developed and governed the nation. Taiwan gave the party a second chance. It was Taiwanese who rebuilt order from the ruins of war, through their own sweat and tears. It was Taiwanese who joined forces with democratic activists
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) held a news conference to celebrate his party’s success in surviving Saturday’s mass recall vote, shortly after the final results were confirmed. While the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would have much preferred a different result, it was not a defeat for the DPP in the same sense that it was a victory for the KMT: Only KMT legislators were facing recalls. That alone should have given Chu cause to reflect, acknowledge any fault, or perhaps even consider apologizing to his party and the nation. However, based on his speech, Chu showed