MCLC: China watches Taiwan protests

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: China watches Taiwan protests
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Source: Sinosphere blog, NYT (3/27/14):
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/criticism-and-rare-words-of-
support-as-china-watches-taiwan-protests/

Criticism, and Rare Words of Support, as China Watches Taiwan Protests
By AUSTIN RAMZY 

The occupation of Taiwan’s legislature by students protesting the handling
of a trade pact with China has been condemned by Chinese state media and
in many comments online, but some democracy advocates on the Chinese
mainland have endorsed the movement, calling it an inspiration to their
efforts.

Several hundred demonstrators stormed Taiwan’s legislature on Mar. 18
after legislators from the Kuomintang, the governing party, forced the
trade pact out of committee in an attempt to win quick legislative
approval. That move went against an earlier pledge to allow a
clause-by-clause review of the deal, which allows cross-strait investment
in a wide range of service industries. Critics of the deal say it could
hurt local businesses and leave the island vulnerable to political
pressure from Beijing.

On Sunday evening demonstrators attempted to expand their protest, briefly
occupying Taiwan’s cabinet offices. They were forced out early Monday
morning by police officers who hit protesters with clubs and used water
trucks to dislodge groups of demonstrators. More than 150 people were
reported injured.

Student leaders and opposition politicians widely condemned the use of
force to remove the students and have demanded apologies from the police.
Prime Minister Jiang Yi-huah, whose office is housed in the cabinet
building, said the action was necessary to allow the government to
continue to function.

Hundreds of demonstrators, mostly college students but also teachers and
civil society activists, remain inside the legislature. Thousands of
supporters line the streets around the building, and many sleep outside at
night.

On Wednesday, the Chinese government urged Taiwan to continue pursuing an
agreement. “Compatriots on both sides of the strait aren’t willing to see
cross-strait economic cooperation be interfered with,” Ma Xiaoguang, a
spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters in Beijing.

Chinese state-run media have often tried to portray Taiwan’s democracy as
chaotic, an assertion that’s been repeated since the student protests
began. Global Times, a newspaper run by China’s ruling Communist Party,
said in an editorial last week that the protests “shamed” Taiwan’s
democracy. “Taiwan’s rule of law is paralyzed at the moment,” it said
<http://opinion.huanqiu.com/editorial/2014-03/4919856.html>.

Similar criticism has followed online.

“For the students who are occupying the legislature, I don’t think this is
President Ma Ying-jeou’s shame, I think it’s your own shame,” wrote
<http://weibo.com/1656818114/AC23Buw7f> Wang Guanxiong, a tech investor,
on his Sina Weibo account.

Luo Chongmin, the head of the Yunnan Provincial Education Department said
<http://weibo.com/2419062270/ACaEBz0vG> that “the students’ behavior is
against the law.”

Amid the criticism, some Chinese activists said they supported the student
demonstrators in Taiwan and that their actions upheld democratic values.

Hu Jia, a dissident who is under house arrest in Beijing — which he said
was intended to keep him silent during the visit of the United States’
first lady, Michelle Obama, to China — has been following developments in
Taipei online.

Since the Chinese government violently cracked down on the Tiananmen
protest movement in 1989, Chinese students “have been silent,” Mr. Hu said
in a telephone interview.

“I support the students in Taiwan, and hope they can pressure President Ma
Ying-jeou and the Kuomintang,” he said. “The other side is that I hope
this inspires Chinese students to study Taiwanese students ability to
express themselves.”

Mr. Ma said this week that he was willing to meet with the students
occupying the legislature without preconditions. They initially signaled
their willingness to meet with the president in a public forum, but have
expressed concerns about his use of party rules to demand support for the
measure by legislators from the Kuomintang, which he heads.

Student leaders say that Mr. Ma’s enforcement of party discipline is
preventing legislators from reaching a compromise on reviewing the trade
agreement. They have also called for a law that would give the legislature
closer oversight of cross-strait agreements.