Nine years have passed since March 30, 2014, when half a million people gathered on Taipei’s Ketagalan Boulevard to protest against the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services. While originally intended to express concern about the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government throwing Taiwan’s door wide open to China, the rally also voiced widespread disapproval of police’s bloody dispersal of protesters occupying part of the Executive Yuan, which had happened one week earlier, in the early hours of March 24.
Unfortunately, then-premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺), then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other government officials who instigated the police deployment have never been called to account, and neither have the police officers who acted violently, but who, according to the police, “could not be identified.”
It is therefore welcome news that on March 23, nine years after the events, the Control Yuan proposed a set of corrective measures to the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of the Interior, the National Police Agency, the Taipei City Police Department and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, telling them to review their actions and make improvements. For the victims of that night’s police violence, this belated justice is a small victory, but also a great one.
The damage that was done that night can hardly be erased. It came as a shock that police methods characteristic of the authoritarian era could still be employed in a free and democratic Taiwan. Nonetheless, through many years of litigation and the Control Yuan’s corrective measures, we have told the public that when police face a crowd of protesters employing civil disobedience, it is wrong to attack them and treat them in a vindictive manner.
The Control Yuan’s decision also gives another slap in the face to Ma and Jiang for saying that they supported police’s eviction of the student protesters and that police got the crowd to leave by just “patting them on the shoulder.”
In recent years, China’s hostility to Taiwan has been going from bad to worse. Its use of the Internet and economic, political, military and other means to threaten Taiwan has become commonplace. Were it not for the Sunflower movement, would the nation have been lured into a trap set by China? What about Ma, who is attracting attention with his visit to China? Does he still think that signing the service trade agreement with China was the right thing to do?
Pan Kuan is a New Taipei City resident who took part in the 2014 Sunflower movement.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
A high-school student surnamed Yang (楊) gained admissions to several prestigious medical schools recently. However, when Yang shared his “learning portfolio” on social media, he was caught exaggerating and even falsifying content, and his admissions were revoked. Now he has to take the “advanced subjects test” scheduled for next month. With his outstanding performance in the general scholastic ability test (GSAT), Yang successfully gained admissions to five prestigious medical schools. However, his university dreams have now been frustrated by the “flaws” in his learning portfolio. This is a wake-up call not only for students, but also teachers. Yang did make a big
RSS