|
Scrap repressive laws
Thursday, Feb 04, 2010, Page 8
As Taiwan was making its first steps in the early 1990s toward democracy, two
pieces of legislation that were designed to constrain constitutional change and
the public’s ability to protest were passed. They were the Act Governing
Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area
(台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法).
The former codified the relationship between Taiwan and China as between the
“Taiwan area” and the “Mainland area” and set restrictions on any change to the
official name and nature of this relationship, while the latter was little more
than a legacy of martial law, designed to assuage “Mainlander” fears that
democracy might bring substantive protests by a public tired of “rulership
without accountability.”
Both these laws are now playing a critical role in allowing the administration
of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), heavily influenced by old Chinese Nationalist
Party (KMT) guard such as National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi
(蘇起) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), to forge ahead with rolling back
Taiwan to the early 1990s in terms of its identity and relations with China.
When questioned by the media and public on Taiwan’s status and identity, the KMT
administration has attempted, without success, to inveigle Taiwanese into
believing that their country is only an area of the Republic of China — a polity
that officially still claims the territory currently administered by the
People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The cross-strait relations act mentioned above is referred to as an answer to
those who argue that Taiwanese sovereignty is at risk from the Ma
administration’s arguably reckless haste to comport with the PRC. When Ma says
that Taiwan’s sovereignty is not at risk, he is telling the truth since from his
perspective sovereignty belongs solely to the ROC and not Taiwan or its
citizens.
Furthermore, through “education and cultural exchanges,” including preparations
for the forthcoming non-event of the ROC centennial, the government is crudely
and transparently seeking to re-educate Taiwanese into thinking that they are
Chinese, nationally and otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Assembly and Parade Law is being selectively used to clamp down
on protest, legitimate or otherwise, and public freedom of movement and
expression. People can protest anywhere, anytime, as long as it is not somewhere
important or meaningful, for example near the presidential and government
offices.
Fortunately, many Taiwanese reject these arbitrary rules but risk imprisonment
as a consequence.
Though very successful, the Wild Strawberry Student Movement was sadly ridiculed
by a largely pro-KMT media and disgracefully ignored by the over-proud Wild Lily
generation, whose hubris prevented them from standing to be counted alongside
the students when it mattered most. The Wild Strawberries, still active today,
stood alone against Ma and Premier Wu Den-yih’s (吳敦義) patronizing belittlement
of their cause.
If Taiwanese want to remain masters of their own house, they need to demand that
their legislators scrap these “birdcage” laws that are designed to inhibit
consolidation of democracy, create a legal foundation for annexation into China
and neutralize public anger at anti-democratic attempts to rob Taiwanese of
their national sovereignty.
Ben Goren
Tainan
|
