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The young stand up,
pursue hope and reform
By Chou Huan-jung 周煥榮
To show their support for army corporal Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), 39 Internet users
who did not know each other formed Citizen 1985.
First, the activist group spent three days trying to gather 3,000 people to join
in an action to surround the Ministry of National Defense. To their surprise,
30,000 protesters turned out on July 20. Two weeks later, when the group once
again called on the public, this time to join a gathering to bid Hung farewell
on Aug. 3, an astonishing 250,000 people turned out, stunning both political
parties and society at large.
Meanwhile, it is also worth mentioning that a large majority of the protesters
participating in these events were young people, and that many of them took to
the streets for the first time.
One result of the street protests was that Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) was
forced to make an official response, yielding to the protesters, known as the
“white shirts.”
In addition, the legislature swiftly passed an amendment to the Code of Court
Martial Procedure (軍事審判法) in two days, finally putting an end to the flawed
military judicial system.
In other words, Citizen 1985 has surpassed political parties and celebrities
alike and thoroughly changed the approach and the values of Taiwan’s civil
movements.
The group has broken the old mold by which previous street demonstrations were
mobilized. These events no longer have to be launched by political parties or
celebrities, and the participants will now be citizens who care about our
democratic society.
Based on the ideal of “all for one and one for all,” the public was willing to
stand up, and the idea that we must save our country by ourselves is beginning
to spread. Today, young people are reinterpreting civil movement values in their
own way, and based on their own ideals, as they carry on the spirit of the
social movements that older generations displayed in their efforts to fight for
public issues.
In the future, this new wave of civil movement will not only change the
development of public issues, it will also lead Taiwanese toward new ways of
monitoring both the government and politicians.
The initiation of the campaigns in this new wave of civil movements that has
developed during this year, be it the anti-nuclear campaign focused on
opposition to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao
District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), the opposition to the demolition of houses
in Dapu Borough (大埔) in Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township (竹南), or the
demonstrations in connection to the death of Hung, has departed from traditional
organization by political parties.
Individuals can now gather supporters via the Internet to oppose anything they
perceive as an injustice. The public pursuit of justice and fairness has now
clearly entered the mainstream.
Young people, come forward. Always maintain the drive for reform and the pursuit
of new hope for Taiwan.
Chou Huan-jung is a member of Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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