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▌Beginning
Hello everyone, today we need to talk about a critical situation unfolding in Taiwan.
If you care about democracy and the future of Taiwan, this message is for you. This is Hardcore News, Xinwen Ding Koko, my name is Stan, welcome to the channel.
Today I need your attention on a pressing issue in Taiwan's political landscape. Let's break it down.
▌Introduction
As you probably know, there are three major political parties in Taiwan, the Kuomintang KMT, which is pro-China, there is the Taiwan People's Party, TPP, which is also pro-China, and the Democratic Progressive Party, DPP, which has concerns about China.
國民黨 (Kuomintang, KMT) was founded in mainland China in 1919, and then moved to Taiwan from China with Chiang Kai-shek in 1949. They imposed martial law and authoritarian rule on Taiwan for 38 years (1949-1987). The KMT used to be strongly opposed to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but now they are becoming more and more close to the CCP.{alertInfo}
民進黨 (The Democratic Progressive Party, DPP) is a local political party founded in Taiwan in 1986. Taiwan's former President 蔡英文 (Tsai Ing-wen) and current President 賴清德 (Lai Ching-de) both belong to the DPP, but now the DPP does not have more than half of the legislators in the parliament.{alertInfo}
And on May 17th, the KMT and TPP attempted to pass several highly controversial bills.
The details of these bills were kept secret, which is unheard of in any democratic country. This alliance between the KMT and the TPP holds a majority in parliament, allowing them to push through almost anything without transparency.
And now the KMT and the TPP want to pass a bill without any reviews, which would give parliamentarians extraordinary powers to question anyone, including the president, under threat of fines and jail time.
As for now, the most controversial proposals are as follows:
▌The first controversy of the bill
Firstly, it's a parliamentary reform package, proposed by the KMT and the TPP members.
The version to be voted for was not published anywhere and hasn't been discussed before the voting.
The package includes criminal charges to be put against those who are considered to be in contempt with the legislature.
The reform bills would enhance the legislative UN's investigative role and give the legislature rights to summon anyone for questioning.
The law would also make it possible for those who have been summoned to be jailed if they are found lying to the legislature, a charge that has the potential to bug president-elize officials and possibly anyone who the legislator is considered to be in contempt down in court proceedings.
That law would also require a president to deliver an address to the legislature every year, appear separately to answer questions, and provide a range of documents when asked.
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Another issue is talking back to lawmakers while being questioned. The proposal doesn't define what specific actions constitute talking back.
And even if it did, it is so undemocratic that if passed into law, it would resemble reintroducing the abolished Article 100 of the Criminal Code. This article was used previously by the KMT government to crack down on freedom of speech during Taiwan's authoritarian era.
This would also possibly lead to the following situation. As Taiwanese MP Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said, if China is to publish a list of Taiwan independence activists, those legislators can summon them to question. And if they don't like their answers, they'll probably be fined or detained.
It's also interesting how incredible the speed at which the KMT and the TPP parties are pushing through this controversial bill.
In the absence of meaningful public and parliamentary discussions, the overall initiative has been raising concerns about legislative overreach.
▌The second controversy of the bill
Secondly, it was the infrastructural projects by KMT's Fukun-chi (傅崐萁), including a high-speed rail around Taiwan and a highway that's supposed to run through the mountains in central Taiwan.
Planned budget for these projects is around 2 trillion NT dollars, which is 62 billion US dollars.
Just a comparison, Taiwan's yearly revenue is around 2.7 trillion Taiwan dollars, or 85.2 billion US dollars, basically meaning that Taiwan would go into debt.
And possibly, it implies cooperation with China under the One Belt, One Road initiative. (一帶一路)
Fukun-chi's projects haven't been discussed or evaluated by professionals. Still, his proposal is going to pass in the legislature.
The proposals from the DPP were not accepted. There was also no preliminary discussion of the finally proposed package.
▌Physical fight
In response, the DPP tried to block the process by physically obstructing the voting tables. They chose those measures as a last resort to prevent the passage of these unknown bills.
It's important to note that the DPP didn't behave violently, and they had no time to read those proposed KMT bills that had been put on their tables one hour before the vote.
However, KMT legislators responded with extreme violence. They threw legislator Puma Shen from a height, resulting in a concussion and hospitalization. In total, six legislators were hospitalized, five from the DPP and one from the KMT.
If the DPP members were the ones using violence, then why are most of the injured from their side?
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And on the evening of May 17th, nearly 1,000 Taiwanese citizens gathered outside the parliament. They protested against the KMT's violence, supported the DPP, and demanded transparency and respect for due process.
▌Misinformation on the Internet
Another issue is the misinformation that's been spread on the internet. Even some of the US congress people were affected by it:
As an example, a pro-Taiwan representative, Chris Smith from New Jersey, wrote in his congratulatory letter to President Lai, One of the first challenges President Lai may need to overcome is disruption from hardcore members of his own Democratic Progressive Party in the Legislative Yuan, who oppose stronger checks and balances reforms that the TPP once favored and are the hallmark of a mature and thriving democracy. Not even mentioning that the KMT and the TPP proposals are being called unconstitutional by many experts, and also how KMT and TPP are obstructing their law making procedures.
Later on, Congressman Smith made a clarification:
Taiwan has proven itself to be a democratic success story. As a republic with separation of powers, it now has a divided government. What is important is a shared commitment across all parties to constitutional governance, respectful dialogue, and above all, a commitment to resolving disagreements peacefully. Taiwan with its vibrant freedom stands in stark contrast to Communist China.
This shows that the current events would also be used by China for further negative propaganda spreading.
And that the KMT and the TPP legislators in Taiwan would also try to smear the Taiwanese government before international media.
Under public pressure, the KMT and TPP halted their actions after midnight on May 17. They passed some items, but not the most controversial ones. They did it today, on May 21.
▌Conclusion
So this is where we need your attention and where we need your help.
Today, more than 30,000 Taiwanese citizens took to the streets to demand transparency and respect for democratic processes.
Taiwan's democracy is under threat from within and we need global awareness and support. The protests would continue further.
So please share this information and help us spread the word. Let's stand together for Taiwan's democracy. God bless Taiwan and their fight.
Thank you for watching. Stay informed, stay engaged, and let's protect democracy together.
And of course, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more updates. Your support makes a difference. Thank you. This is Stan, I see you in the next one.
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