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Hundreds march in ¡¥Occupy Taipei¡¦
demonstration
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
A group of demonstrators protest
against Taiwan¡¦s widening income disparity at Taipei 101 yesterday.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Scuffles broke out between ¡§Occupy Taipei¡¨
demonstrators, the police and Taipei 101 security staff when hundreds of
demonstrators rushed into the Taipei 101 shopping mall chanting anti-capitalist
slogans, as part of a globally coordinated movement against capitalism inspired
by the ¡§Occupy Wall Street¡¨ demonstration that started in New York City last
month.
¡§No to capitalism! We are the 99 percent,¡¨ demonstrators chanted, while also
singing the Workers¡¦ Fight Song as they marched through the ground floor of the
shopping mall in the country¡¦s tallest building.
Before entering the building, demonstrators circled it, sparking minor physical
and verbal clashes with security staff and the police who tried ¡X unsuccessfully
¡X to stop the protesters from entering.
After their brief ¡§march¡¨ inside the building, the demonstrators lay down and
blocked the entrance of the building. Initiated by Internet users on Facebook,
several hundred people showed up at the ¡§Occupy Taipei¡¨ demonstration.
The protesters said Taipei 101 was chosen as the target because it is a landmark
symbol of capitalism in Taiwan. Participants were mostly students, but also
included office workers and unemployed and retired people.
National Taiwan University student Ho Shiang-kai (¦óµ¾³Í) and friends edited and
printed their own magazine, titled Socialist, that they sold during the
demonstration, saying they hoped to spread different views.
¡§I¡¦m glad to see a demonstration in Taipei that has no specific goals, but is
directly targeting -capitalism and the financial system in the country,¡¨ he
said, adding that the capitalist system is making the poor ¡X especially young
college graduates ¡X work hard, while they don¡¦t get much in return, and the
wealthy make more money through investment activities.
¡§There are too many problems with capitalism, but I think, at least, the first
step to creating a fairer society is to tax peoples¡¦ income through investment
activities,¡¨ he said. ¡§It¡¦s not fair that workers have to pay taxes on their
hard-earned money, but the wealthy are exempt from taxation on whatever they
earn from the money game.¡¨
Liang Sheng-yueh (±ç¸t©¨), a high school student from Hsinchu City who traveled to
Taipei to take part in the demonstration, was also concerned about the widening
wealth gap.
¡§The economic growth figures may look good on paper, but we are not feeling it
because all the money is going into the hands of capitalists,¡¨ Liang said. ¡§I
don¡¦t expect instant change to happen, but I hope that this demonstration can at
least be a start for change in the future.¡¨
A 63-year-old owner of a home design firm surnamed Shen (¨H) said he was happy to
see so many young people standing up against social inequality. However, he said
he had expected that more people would have attended the protest.
A young woman, who only wished to be known as Zoe and was among the first group
of people to initiate the event, said she was surprised to see so many people
coming out yesterday.
¡§This shows that a lot of people are dissatisfied with current social
conditions,¡¨ she said. ¡§I wouldn¡¦t say whether today¡¦s [yesterday¡¦s] action was
a success or a failure, because this is only the start.¡¨
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