Disclaimer: Ok, so let me first admit that I haven't been in Taiwan long enough to have a strong grasp of the political situation.That said, I've been seeing some things in the past few months that have been disturbing, and I'd like to share them (whether right or wrong). As you probably know, the President of Taiwan, 陳水扁 (Chen Shui Bian) has been under attack this year for several alleged criminal actions that his son-in-law, wife, and himself may or may not have taken. What this has transpired into is a country which has rallied behind Shi Mengde (施明德) Taiwan's Nelson Mandela to force the President to step down (otherwise so eloquently put as "倒扁". As an outsider, I am a bit at a loss at why the people feel that they can pressure him to step down before any legal proceedings have finished. It is obvious that Taiwan is a democracy, as the few hundred thousand 倒扁 protestors are actually allocated public space to have a week-long sit in, in front of the Taiwanese White House. Why do these protestors not recognize that in a democracy, you are innocent until proven guilty? Just because you gather in numbers doesn't mean you can bully out the President.
And just what are the accusations so far? I believe these are the 10 official ones: Inability to govern, Constitutional violations, chaotic administration, the nation's poor economic performance, making improper use of personnel, allegations against his immediate family and aides, manipulating financial reform, insincerity and corruption in policy implementation, presiding over diplomatic setbacks, provoking ethnic conflict and escalating cross-strait tensions.
Specifically, a few that have been in the spotlight over and over:
- Son-in-law committed insider trading in a company whose stock jumped due to the President's policies {Like this doesn't happen in every administration of every country}
- Wife Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) who accepted a bunch of Sogo (a famous Japanese department store in Taiwan/Asia) gift certificates {Chen's already said that if found guilty he would step down. Come on, they're Gift Certificates!}
- Himself who had some inconsistencies in his expense reporting. Specifically, he supposedly took other people's receipts and used them to book his own. {Don't tell me you've never padded your expenses or used other receipts to make up for your own lost ones}
(Note that Chen directly answered each of these accusations point-for-point in a June television broadcast)
Going back to what I've been disturbed with, is the type of fervor that the 倒扁 protests have stirred up. There are people demonstrating that just aren't there for the right reasons:
- The media in Taiwan is a whole other story, but they love to find anyone a bit different in the crowd of protesters and give them some air time. It's particularly annoying seeing the 22-year old 老外 English teachers (I am assuming their profession) say, "President Chen, Step Down!" when they haven't lived here long enough to have the right to ask a President to step down. Oh yeah, I'm really assimilating with the Chinese culture during my time here, it's really great!
- Children at the 倒扁 rallies. I feel that it's good to "expose" your kids to lots of things, but actively participating in the rallies IMO will result in a severe political bias for them, not giving them a choice when they get older. By "participating" I mean, when the media is filming your kids, you train them to make the now-universally-known倒扁 gesture (the repeated thumbs down movement), while saying "倒扁" in a trance-like mode. Another nice touch is when the 倒扁 organizers let a 12-year old boy get on stage and lead the few 100K demonstrators in a good old 倒扁 chant. Nothing so nice as that to have, as a childhood memory, for him and all of his other junior high classmates. When they watch him on stage, all decked out in his 倒扁 paraphenelia (red shirt, bandana, wrist band, etc.) what will they think? Wow, that is Really cool-I want to get on stage and 倒扁 too. Mommy, can we go to 倒扁 this weekend? I want to 倒扁. If any child watches the news, they will be challenged not to breach this topic at the dinner table, especially after seeing the same footage over-and-over of mothers displaying their children's unique 倒扁 talents with glowing admiration for the world to see.
- People who are just there because their business is down, they've lost money in the market, or just unemployed. Maybe the economy isn't so hot. Leaders always take the fall for a poor political climate. But the proper route of action is to vote him down in the election. I think protesting is great, I really do. It gets the word out that you're not happy. But a goal of having the President step down because of it is unfair and unattainable. Especially when the majority of people (when on camera) cite that the reason why they believe in 倒扁 is because of his personal greed (貪污). That's just not true, b/c I know that if the economy was booming, and President Chen was found guilty of stealing 10X, there would not be this protest. Period.
Further, from a foreign affairs point of view, instability doesn't help your cause. The outside world already views Taiwan's political scene in the eyes of CNN when they broadcast the KMT and DPP duking it out with fistacuffs during legislative debates. I only hope that these protests do not boil over into violence, especially when the Chen supporters (挺扁) come on 9-16. I saw a scooter rider give the finger to a protester, which was returned with an umbrella smacking him off the scooter. It was all filmed, which was quite entertaining, since his scooter was badly damaged.... anyways, back to the point. So, yea, I hope that violence does not become an issue.
9/18-19 Update:Violence has indeed become an issue, in 2 southern sities (Gaoxiong and Tainan), during the past 2 days....see some footage here: Gaoxiong .
9/25: So now its been over 2 weeks since the protests started. As I feared, violence has now become a daily issue, with the media now able to satisfy their appetite from everything from mob violence between pro and anti-Chen sides, to individual attacks on citizens wearing certain colors. I believe the society has taken a turn for the worse, even if people's freedom to express their views has been achieved. How many people have gone to the protests in 18 days instead of working? Shop owners in near 西門丁the 倒扁 activities in Taiwan have said this has been a negative influence on their business, leading to a decline of 20-30% in sales.
The other thing that does not help Taiwan's national cause is disunity. I don't believe that everyone should speak one voice, but I do believe that in certain situations, it helps the country to stand united behind its leader. When President Chen recently left the country to visit Palau recently, people were suspicious (rightly so) of the timing, since it coincided with the protests in Taiwan. However, it did not do the country's image any good for the media and political commentators to beat the issue into the ground and question his moves. What would Palau feel towards Taiwan, if this was true? What would other countries feel about Taiwan? It's true that the leader's reputation would be damaged, but he represents the country. It's a lose-lose situation is my point.
serving of freshly made (you can see the chef behind the counter, b/c the restaurant's so small) lobster salad with shoe string fries. 
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