Summary of developments in Taiwan The student protest in Taiwan against the attempts by the Ma administration to bypass a negotiated Legislative Yuan process and bulldoze a controversial service trade agreement with China through the Legislative Yuan is going into its second week tomorrow, and growing fast. The occupation of the Legislative Yuan by some 300 students in the evening of March 18th came in response to a development on the previous day, when a KMT co-chairman of a committee charged with reviewing the trade agreement suddenly announced that the review was completed (without a single minute of discussion) and would move to a second reading in the plenary session of the LY. The move meant the pact would be sent straight to a vote on the legislative floor without any review. This is in direct violation of a previous agreement, brokered by LY Speaker Wang Jin-pyng with all political parties, to review the agreement line by line in committees. In addition, many economic players in Taiwan oppose the pact, and say that economic repercussions of the pact have not been fully identified and reviewed. From Tuesday through Saturday the peaceful standoff ensued, while larger crowds in support of the students gathered outside the legislative building. Police did surround the building, but aside for three or four attempts during the first night of the occupation, no attempts were made to enter the legislative chamber. Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng played a constructive role by declaring that no force would be used to clear the chamber, and that he was seeking a resolution through consultation. Wang refused to attend a March 21 meeting called by President Ma and instead held a meeting with lawmakers later in the day stating that Ma should understand the current political situation and listen to public opinion to find a solution to the standoff. A Presidential Office spokesperson said the Presidential Office would work with Wang on how he would handle the situation based on the principle of legislative autonomy. However during the past weekend it has become clear that the KMT government was not going to change course. In a statement on Saturday Prime Minister Jiang Yi-huah stated that government would continue to push for passage of the agreement, and that the agreement would not be renegotiated with China. On Sunday, President Ma himself gave a press conference where he called the students actions illegal and called for a speedy passage of the highly unpopular trade agreement. This uncompromising stance of the government led a separate group of students to occupy the Executive Yuan, the building housing the office of the Prime Minister. At around 7:30 pm a group of around 200 climbed barbed-wire barriers and a wall and occupied the compound around the building. They opened the gates and some 3,000 protesters entered the compound and sat down. Outside, more than 8,000 protesters gathered in support of the students. A small group of students was able to enter the building itself, and for a while occupied a lounge on the second floor. However, at around 10:30 a group of some 500 riot police appeared and gradually started to move in. They asked the students to come out of the building, which they did. However, the crowd of about 3,000 in the compound remained, sitting on the ground, singing songs. The police received further reinforcements and by midnight a large police force started to move in on the peaceful crowd, hitting people with batons. Hundreds of students and bystanders were hurt, and dozens of them were rushed to hospitals. Later on in the night, police also used water cannons in their efforts to dispel the crowd. By early Monday morning, most of the crowd within the compound had been cleared, but more than 10,000 people remained on the streets near the building. Conclusions and recommendations: 1. The root cause of the problem is the insensitivity by the Ma government to the concerns in society about a trade agreement that will pull Taiwan inextricably into the orbit of an undemocratic and repressive China; 2. The occupation of the Legislative Yuan on March 18th was conducted peacefully and orderly, and received broad support from the population in Taiwan including former government officials, academics (52 university presidents signed a joint statement in support of the students), and many other segments of society; 3. The total lack of an adequate response by the Ma government, and its continued insistence that the agreement be passed unchanged, led a separate group of students to take action and occupy the compound around the Executive Yuan. The harsh response by police has now led to bloodshed and dozens of students injured. 4. We call on the US Government to express deep concern about the police response to the peaceful protests by the students. Taiwans democracy is precious to us, and we need to make an all-out effort to preserve it. We ask the US government and Congress to urge the Ma Administration to exercise utmost restraint in using police force, in order to prevent further bloodshed and deeper polarization of Taiwans society. 5. We call on the US Government to call on the Ma government to show full respect for due process the legislature and the LYs autonomy. Differences between the various parties need to be settled democratically, transparently, and with the interests of all Taiwanese people in mind. The procedures followed by the Ma government to push the service trade agreement through were undemocratic and not transparent. The autonomy of the Legislature and the legislative process negotiated by the political parties should be respected as befits Taiwans democracy.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:41:04 +0000
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