Taiwan protesters meet China’s intimidation with defiance

Mass protests erupted in Taiwan Friday in defiance of military and political pressure from Beijing, as China waged a large-scale military exercise aimed at testing its ability to forcibly control the island.

Tens of thousands of Taiwanese poured into the streets of Taipei on Friday chanting slogans against what protesters called anti-democratic, China-backed legislative reforms by the island’s Beijing-leaning political party.

“China has been threatening us for decades,” says Jenny Yeh, a self-described housewife from Taipei. “Of course I worry, but worry can’t save us. We need to learn to save ourselves.”

In a second day of “joint strike drills” targeting Taiwan, China on Friday dispatched scores of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets and bombers and more than a dozen naval and coast guard ships in what Beijing called a “warning” to the new administration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who was sworn in Monday.

Beijing said the drills to the north, south, and east of Taiwan were aimed at demonstrating the PLA’s ability to conduct “political strikes” against Taiwan independence strongholds, while also blockading the island and choking off its exports, energy imports, and navy. 

The PLA also launched mock missile strikes on Taiwan, and some of its jets reportedly carried live missiles. Taiwan scrambled jets and placed its armed forces on alert in response to the PLA drills.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has vowed to bring the self-governing democratic island of 24 million people under Beijing’s control, by force, if necessary.

In his inauguration address on Monday, Dr. Lai called for China to end its military and political intimidation of Taiwan. He pledged to “neither yield nor provoke” China’s leaders, urging peace and proposing dialogue and exchanges with the mainland. In response, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called Dr. Lai “despicable” and accused him of asserting “a more radical and adventurous stance on ‘Taiwan independence.’”

In electing Dr. Lai, Taiwan’s voters resisted blunt warnings from Beijing, which cast the January presidential election as a choice between war and peace. Dr. Lai’s victory gave his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) an unprecedented third term. Polls show that Taiwan’s voters overwhelmingly prefer maintaining the status quo of the de-facto independent island’s relations with China. 

Concern over China’s direct and indirect pressure tactics fueled the turnout of an estimated 100,000 protesters in Taipei on Friday to decry legislation put forth by the opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which has historically supported Taiwan’s unification with China. Beijing backed the KMT presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, who came in second, but whose party took the most seats in Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan. (The KMT took 52 of the 113 total seats; the DPP took 51.) 

Since the election, KMT legislators have been working aggressively to dismantle DPP policies. Together with a smaller opposition party, the Taiwan People’s Party, the KMT is seeking to speed through sweeping bills that would expand the power of the parliament and curtail Dr. Lai’s presidency. 

The bills, if passed, could compel the head of state to report and undergo questioning by lawmakers, and also broaden the parliament’s investigative powers.

Protesters say the lack of proper deliberation over the controversial bills poses a threat to democracy.

“No debate means no democracy!” the crowd of demonstrators chanted as their numbers swelled on Friday afternoon.

From retirees fanning themselves in the heat to uniformed high-school students waving sunflowers and mothers with children in tow, the demonstrators condemned the KMT, saying its bills risk undermining Taiwan’s democracy and doing Beijing’s bidding.

“We are fighting for our democracy,” says Ms. Ko, a self-described full-time mother, shouting slogans in unison with a rally leader. She waves a sign in Chinese that reads “oppose the black box” – a reference to the KMT’s lack of transparency. “I am 100 percent sure that what the KMT is doing has to do with the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]” influence, she says.

Chung-chun Yang, a retired mathematics professor, agrees. “The KMT is doing what the CCP wants,” he says, referencing recent high-profile KMT delegations to China. 

The ranks of protesters grew throughout the day, and people crowded the streets until midnight, when the legislative session adjourned for the day without the bills being passed. 

“Today … tens of thousands … once again demonstrated the power of civil society,” Dr. Lai said late Friday on social media. “Together, we will defend Taiwan’s democratic values,” he said, urging the parliament to “allow different opinions to be fully discussed.”

People dispersed under a moonlit sky, with many saying they would return when the legislature resumes next week. “I come to help people protest,” says octogenarian and retired factory owner Yihung Lee, who came to Taipei from Kaohsiung City. “I will be back on Tuesday.”