Taiwan: Defending Rights to Protest

Following David's article on “The Phantom of Police State” coming back with Chen Yun-lin (陳雲林)'s visit to Taiwan on 3 of Nov, I have collected some visual materials showing the conflict between the protesters and police with brief translation.

Since Nov 3rd, many protesters wearing pro-Taiwan T-shirt or banners or waving the ROC national flag have been harassed by the police, and some of them were wounded. To the extent that people playing Taiwanese songs (Sunrise records, 上揚唱片) were disrupted with force, and a cup of coffee became all too dangerous.


Manuscript translation:

Unlawful object: drinks?
When do citizens lost our rights to walk around with drinks on our hands?
Is it lawful for the police to push citizens toward the wall?
Is a cup of drinks a dangerous item now?

A group of motorcyclists waving the ROC national flag and Tibet flag were stopped by the police without any explanation.

When seeing the pro-Taiwan banner (“Taiwan is Taiwan”), the police (?) ran to the spot and took the banner away.
The protesters asked “This is our hotel room, and this banner is our property. Who gives you the right to come in and take our banners?”

Protesters said “We are Taiwanese. Why can't we express our opinions?”
Protesters asked the police “What's the problem with our national flag?”
After the police took and damaged these flags, the reporters asked the police “Isn't it wrong to damage our national flag?”

Defending rights to protest

Facing these incidents, Carolina thought Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou should take the responsibility.

在滿街的旗幟被拔走,民眾持旗被沒收的錯愕中,馬英九今天還唬爛說他絕對沒有下令撤旗。

When the (national) flags and banners on the streets were taken away and people holding these flags were shocked, Ma Ying-Jeou lied that he absolutely did not give orders to remove the (national) flags.

OJ is also very disappointed with the current government.

當我們看到我們的政府是這樣對待自己的人民,我們真的只能很心寒地覺悟了…那些好不容易爭取來的民主法制、人權價值,都被這個自我作賤的政府給徹底丟棄了。

Seeing our government treat our people in this way, we bitterly realize that…the democracy and human rights are thrown away by this shameful government.

However, citizens prepare to fight back, non-violently. Francais asked citizens to collect evidence if they see these incidents.

今年12月的國際人權日,亞裔人權團體將會在巴黎集體發聲,我們原本只是想要再次聲討中國對台灣的打壓,沒想到,自己的政府被打出獨裁專政原形,台灣正式列入人權受危害的國家。因此,我們想請大家集思廣益,提供馬政府上任後種種侵害人權的事件,我們會整理後在國際人權日的活動上,一起向國際媒體揭露。很遺憾,眼睜睜看台灣的沈淪,這卻是我們唯一可以做的;也請大家各自努力。

Asian human rights groups will gather and voice on the Human Right Day this December. We thought we would denounce the repression of Taiwan from China. However, our own government shows their dictatorship, and Taiwan is formally listed as a country whose human rights are endangered now. We appeal for gathering information about incidents that endanger human rights after President Ma inaugurated. We will put them together and reveal them to the international media. I am sorry that when we see the degradation of Taiwan, this is the only thing we can do. We should work hard now.

28 comments

  • […] violent action towards mainland journalists and anchors from CCTV, China in the protest against Chen Yun-lin's visit. Posted by Oiwan Lam  Print Version Share […]

  • knights

    One word to describe you

    Low-life spliticists Taiwanese

    go to hell! Chan Shui Ben

  • ifan

    Long time no see, knights.

    My friend, if you have time, maybe you should check out one of your “high-life” officials: http://uncutvideo.aol.com/tags/%E6%9B%B8%E8%A8%98%E6%9E%97%E5%98%89%E7%A5%A5/461347e2ee373df38e94f0eb4faedd0f?index=0

    I think it is always a good idea to care about our own countrymen than another country’s ex-president.

  • In fact, Chen Yun-Lin didn’t bring hostility to Taiwan. And there’s no sign that mainland China is urgent to take back the territory.In contrast, it was the peaceful greeting that proved respect and sincerity of Chinese government. There’s no need to hate each other because we are all Chinese regardless of politics. To united, or not, that’s a question. But the answer can never be misunderstanding and blood.

  • ifan

    Dear Steven,

    If you read the news, you will see many Taiwanese do not agree with “we are all Chinese.” Actually, from genetic analysis, many Taiwanese are in a closer relationship with people in the Southeast Asia than Chinese. On the other hand, not all people in China have genetic relationship with each other. Next time, how about teaching us the definition of “Chinese”?

    By the way, this article is not about Chen Yunlin, it is about the endangered human rights in Taiwan.

  • Irene

    Even if I’m away from Taiwan, I still want to say Taiwan is my country.
    Thanks for sharing the info!

  • knights

    ifan, you need to look up the dictionary. How about you defining the definition of Chinese eh? Are Taiwanese Han? yes/no?!

    Chinese is not an ethnic term. I am Han Chinese, and I am a citizen of USA. I can say I am Chinese-American, or just American! So to say that people of different ethnicities living in China or come from China are not Chinese is really ignorant!

  • JJ Huang

    Most Chinese live in the myth: Taiwanese are Chinese, so Taiwan is a part of China. Then one may ask: Tibetans are not Chinese, why is Tibet an inseparable part of China as claimed by Chinese? A confusing paradox it may seem, Chinese would not think so.

    While what Ifan said was absolutely true, Chinese will never accept that. Chinese always stobbornly insist that Taiwanese are Chinese because their ancestors were from Fu-Chien. But that is only partially true. The whole truth is that Taiwanese’s blood also carries the gene of the Southeast Asian aboriginal residents. Taiwanese pioneers in the early days mostly had to marry the aboriginal women since Ching government prohibited Chinese women to emigrate from China. Chinese may not admit, but Taiwanese are clearly different from Chinese in many ways: humble, straightforward, friendly, shy, the look, and many more.

    But the above is not really the point. The key is that human rights should be put in the first place. If the majority of Taiwanese want to be independent from China, let it be. Same will apply to Tibetans.

    When freedom of speech and assembly is violated by KMT illegally, Taiwanese must come forward with strong protests and let their voices be clearly heard. It is the rights of Taiwanese to protect themselves.

  • ifan

    knights,

    You response shows me that you are not good at explaining ideas.

    If you can say you are American instead of Chinese, of course we can say we are not Chinese. Identity is what we want to define ourselves.

    By the way, I am not Han, either in ethnic group nor in culture. You cannot find genetic evidence, and you can not force me to say so. Are you satisfied? It is not a good idea to show your arrogance here.

  • Taiwanese 1106

    I am NOT Chinese. I am Taiwanese!

    I am glad really there is a protest going on in Taiwan right now.

    We have to fight for our rights as Taiwanese!

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