Wed, May 12, 2010 page3

• FEATURE: ‘Elderly revolutionaries’ in protests for the long haul

  NOT MOVING Long after an initial mass protest on Oct. 25, 2008, a sit-in in front of the legislature continues to this day, targeting the government’s pro-China policies

  • By Vincent Y. Chao / STAFF REPORTER
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  Long after the sun sets and with only the occasional taxi splashing through the wet Taipei City roads, the sounds of chatter and laughter were still audible, emanating from a brightly lit tent on a forgotten corner sandwiched between imposing government buildings.

  Inside the tent — made of election billboards and political posters — six elderly men and four elderly women kept watch.

  It’s their shift, they say, and they are prepared to keep vigil well into the night until three or four other volunteers arrive to take their place.

  Surrounding the “elderly revolutionaries,” as the group calls itself, was a tattered bookcase, a half-filled donation box, as well as dozens of boxes packed with dusty old literature from past election campaigns. Nearby, a garbage can is filled to the brim with discarded watermelon rinds and bento boxes.

  “I must have had more than 1,000 bentos here,” said Chao Chang-ji (趙長吉), a retired ­businessman in his 60s. “After all, I’ve been here since we first set this up.”

  That first day was Oct. 25, 2008. Hundreds of thousands of protesters had flooded the streets to demonstrate against President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies and his administration’s new emphasis on cross-strait relations.

  Hours after the last protester had gone home and only political flags were left littering the empty streets, however, a group of 30 dissidents led by National Taiwan University professor Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) and Chang Ming-yu (張銘祐), a director at a pro-independence group, came to the conclusion that the approach was not working.

  Dressed in a red polo shirt and smoking a cigarette, Chang, still in his late 20s, recalled the moment when they decided to spend the next few years of their lives camping outside the legislature.

  “We realized the rally did not fulfil our expectations. Large demonstrations, they come and go, but what do they really leave behind?” Chang said. “We wanted to try something new, something more permanent and hopefully more effective.”

  Asked where the inspiration to hold a sit-in came from, Chang said his motivation came from Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian independence movement whose non-violent civil disobedience movement that drew international attention in the 1920s.

  Since then, much like the row of convenience stores down the street, their tent on the corner of Zhongshan N Road and Guizhou Road has remained lit, with the group continuing its protest 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

  “Rain or scorching heat, we are going to be here and we plan on staying here until the very end, until our demands are met,” said entrepreneur-turned-activist Hsu Chien-kuo (�?�), who is in his 60s and used to run a technology company.

  Their list of demands includes a revision to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) that would simplify the process, the creation of a proportional electoral system and the lifting of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) detention.

  They also want the total abolishment of the Republic of China and the creation of Taiwan as an independent state.

  “We realize it’s not a short-term goal, but we are prepared to wait it out,” Hsu said.

  And while he admitted that turn-over among volunteers for the protest was high, the regulars have stayed and as a result, no one has yet thought about packing up and going home.

  Retiree Su Lee-hsiang (蘇麗香) used to bus in every day from Hsinchu City. Su, who has taken part in protests against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government since the early 1980s, said she now stays with a friend in Taipei to avoid the commute.

  Asked about her dedication, Su said she worried President Ma’s policies would sell out Taiwan and that an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), which his administration intends to sign with China, is the first step.

  Their outspoken views and location on the doorstep of the Legislature has naturally led to run-ins with the law.

  They change their location by a few meters every month, from ­between taking two parking spaces on Guizhou Road to the sidewalk right in front of the legislature’s front entrance on Zhongshan North Road, to avoid complaints from neighboring residents and businesses.

  Chang, who admits the group never filed a request for the rally with Taipei City police, said clashes with police used to be a daily occurrence. In the past year, the group has been barred three times from entering the area while their tent was being dismantled.

  “At first there was fighting. Then we got sued by police many times. We still have to make a weekly trip to the courthouse,” Chang said.

  He says there are still more than 16 outstanding cases among the protesters, while Tsay alone has nearly a dozen cases still being fought.

  However, while the occasional clash still takes place, police have largely accepted their presence and their desire to stay, protesters said.

  “Since our first anniversary, I think they saw our resolve and that we weren’t going away,” Chao said.

  Asked whether the sit-in was worth it, he said they did not plan on making immediate gains, but instead hoped to raise public awareness about the government’s overture to China.

  While most of the nearby high school students and government staffers who walked by in the afternoon did not give the protest a second glance, more than a few expressed approval.

  Sunny Hsu (徐光昱), a 34-year-old working in the insurance sector, said she supported their cause and expressed concerns that the government’s China policies would cost Taiwanese jobs.

  “It’s a good cause,” she said while signing a referendum petition form. “Someone has to tell the government that enough is enough.”

  Last year, the group, along with other pro-independence organizations, collected 100,000 petitions to hand to US Congress asking it to support Taiwanese independence. This year, they hope to replicate that with a petition to hold a referendum on an ECFA, which the government plans to sign next month or in July.

  “Things have been picking up around here recently with these plans to sign an ECFA,” Hsu Chien-kuo said. “But long after this ECFA issue passes and even if the government changes in 2012, we will continue to be here. We don’t plan on leaving.”
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