All my dear international friends, I, a Taiwanese, am here dragging your attention, for what is ongoing in my country. I can’t feel more obliged to do something for Taiwan at this very moment. So would you guys please take some time to understand what’s going on in Taiwan now. Numerous students have been occupying our Legislative Yuan for almost a week, protesting the controversial service trade pact with China. The service trade pact was signed last year in June, under the Cross-Straight Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China signed back in 2010. The protesters, mostly consisting of university students, claimed that the ratification of the service trade pact was not thorough nor legit. They broke into the Legislative Yuan on March 18 in the evening, barricaded the major assembly hall, with the appeal of reviewing the service trade pact clause-by-clause and the apology of President Ma. The riot police tried to clear the hall, yet in vain due to the extreme resistance of the students.Following those students inside the Legislature, tens of thousands of students gathered outside to support. https://youtube/watch?v=VjlSUdaJN74 (video inside the Legislature) Highlighting a) 3:07~3:15, yelling “withdraw service trade pact,defend democracy” b) 5:07~10:47, preventing police from entering the hall c) 12:36~13:50, the famous song “Do you hear the people sing” from Les Miserable was changed into Taiwanese lyrics The service trade pact will allow a more liberal moving of capital and labor force between Taiwan and China. Taiwanese government claimed the economic benefits it’ll bring, whereas the protester questioned the unjustice ratification and the potential damage of Taiwan’s sovereignty. Many Taiwanese doubted the closed-door negotiation. Though the government had held 20 public hearings concerning the service trade pact, it is still claimed to lack comprehensive understanding of the civilians. Moreover, some impact analyses were not made until six months after the service trade pact was signed. On March 22, the Prime Minister Jiang had an unsuccessful meeting with the protesting students, where they fail to reach a consensus. On March 23, president Ma held an international press conference, restating the legitimacy and benefits of the service trade pact. The students felt depressed by a least satisfying reponse. March 23, in the evening, a group of crowd outside the Legislature turned their target to the Executive Yuan, hold a more aggressive attitude from the students inside the Legislature. They successfully broke into the building and cracked things up. The riot police was ordered by the Prime Minister Jiang and Prsident Ma to force the people to leave. Breaking into the Executive Yuan was indeed a felony, yet the abuse of force to out the people was brougt up at the same time. Films of police attacking unarmed civilians were released on the internet after the clearance of the Executive Yuan. https://youtube/watch?v=vaVEEDso9zg from 0:46, mobs broke into the Cabinet https://youtube/watch?v=hJA_7YQg7RI people-attacking police It was the very first time that our Legistive Yuan or the Cabinet being occupied, throughout more than twenty years of Taiwan’s democracy. Our democracy was also tarnished last night by the violent break-in of the crowd and some people-attacking brutal police. The tension between the protesters and the government has escalated to a very extent. I do not know where it leads for Taiwan. I tried not to be biased against either side to present this. I just want people around the world to know what’s happening in Taiwan. Spread this out！ With my greatest gratitude, Laurence
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 12:56:05 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015