Even though the #MeToo movement was started by US activist Tarana Burke in 2006, Taiwan’s political world has just begun to see its first #MeToo reckoning.
The #MeToo movement gained traction when a former gymnast accused a former coach of sexual assault while she was a junior-high student. The 2017 suicide of Lin Yi-han (林奕含), who turned her experience of alleged sexual assault by a cram school teacher into a novel, also caused an uproar.
The two incidents have encouraged other people to reveal misconduct by teachers and coaches, sparking reform in sports and education.
Now it is the political arena’s turn to undergo “cleansing”: Former Hualien County commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been accused of sexual harassment; a whistle-blower surnamed Chen (陳) has accused her supervisor and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Youth Wing leader Tsai Mu-lin (蔡沐霖) of helping cover up sexual abuse claims she made against a colleague named Chen Yu-hao (陳右豪); exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) has denied allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by two men.
In response, different parties have unanimously condemned sexual harassment and vowed to mete out penalties if the accusations proved to be true.
Even though Taiwan ranks sixth among 163 countries in overall gender equality, it still has a long way to go before realizing true gender equality. One of the obstacles is social values. As Taiwan is deeply rooted in Confucianism, people tend to hold authority figures, such as coaches and teachers, in high esteem, which explains why people are afraid to seek help.
As Confucianism underscores social order through the encouragement of virtues such as loyalty and respect for elderly people, it has inadvertently bolstered male chauvinism. In a highly patriarchal and chauvinistic society, victims of abuse might be afraid that they would be punished, ridiculed or stigmatized if they come forward.
However, the younger generation has replaced Confucianism with a new set of values, such as Taiwanese independence, opposing the death penalty, and upholding gender equality and LGBT rights. The mindset of the women who lived through these movements is different from the previous generation — and they refuse to put up with grievances such as sexual harassment.
The higher echelons in the DPP were sorely mistaken when they thought they could sweep the complaints under the carpet with the traditional mindset of a patriarchal society. The older generation might have thought it better to stay silent for the “greater good,” but not the new generation.
However, as Taiwan’s #MeToo movement has coincided with the election season, there are concerns that it could be used by political parties to trade accusations, and fail to trigger far-reaching reforms.
To bring real change to the workplace, political parties should implement new measures, instead of just pointing the finger at others, such as establishing a direct channel for people to report wrongdoing, implementing a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment and revising party rules and regulations.
Most importantly, society must realize that every person has a responsibility to help people call out perpetrators, instead of pouring cold water over their pleas or indulge in victim-blaming.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under