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Published: December 3rd 2008
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Get Out
A protestor proudly displays his message Initially, we stopped over in Taiwan to get a sense of the English teaching market, as we had several friends who had positive experiences either teaching or studying in the country.
Taipei, a city of close to three million people, has several claims to fame; including the world’s tallest building, one of the world’s greatest population densities, and its continual tension with the People’s Republic of China.
We arrived in Taipei at night, speeding past the hulking shapes of textile factories on the city’s outskirts. The metropolis, full of boxy gray buildings, is not much to look at from the outside. But as we began to explore and venture into the city, we found some excellent corners, interesting alleys, vibrant cafes, and hip galleries. My favorite area of the city was near the National Taiwan University, near the Gonguan metro stop. In addition to the sprawling campus there was a wide range of restaurants (including an excellent place for kabobs) and stores.
Taipei’s metro system is a modern marvel. It is possible to take it to nearly any place in the city in a relatively short amount of time. Trains are frequent, and it
Cabs
Downtown Taipei is safe, clean, and convenient, not to mention inexpensive. My only true complaint is that it stops running at midnight!
On our first day we were casually strolling around when we ran straight into the largest protest I had ever seen. Close to 500,000 people, most of whom were members of the Democratic Progressive Party (opposition to the current KMT) had shown up from all over Taiwan to protest current president Ma Ying-Jeou’s perceived “pro-China” policies. The protestors filled the street in a never-ending column, shouting, chanting, and waving banners with slogans such as “No Made in China” and “Taiwan is NOT Red China”. There were also many anti-Ma posters, slamming the president for his “friendliness” with the PRC.
We spent close to an hour watching the protestors stream past without an end in sight before joining them to walk to their destination: the President’s office. (At the time Ma was in Kaohsiung, because, according to one protestor, “he doesn’t want to face us”.) Near the government buildings the crowd slowed to a crawl. In the wide street there was a stage set up with bands playing, and people packed next to each other. There were
even people in the trees.
It was a fascinating opportunity to speak with the protestors and try to understand their position. Passions were running high, but the general consensus was essentially that President Ma was on the verge of selling them out to mainland China, and was about to sign a series of economic agreements with China. Several worried opposition party participants feared that this would render Taiwan essentially a “special zone” of the PRC, similar to Hong Kong or Macau. This particular protest was spurred on by the impending visit of a high-ranking Chinese official.
In truth, President Ma, representing the KMT,and who took office in May 2008, has promoted a platform of “mutual undenial” when it comes to ties with the mainland. This involves improving relations between the Taiwan and the PRC.
As an outsider, I am not entirely clear on what this means for Taiwan, on one hand, just before our visit, the Taiwan inked a 6.3 billion dollar arms deal with the United States, which outraged the PRC.
However, by the time we were preparing to depart, the protests had escalated. Chen Yunlin, a negotiator from the PRC,
had arrived in Taiwan to sign a series of economic agreements. The rally became violent, with thousands of angry protestors physically clashing with the police outside of Chen’s hotel. The tumultuous events seized the city, completely overshadowing the US presidential election on the news.
A fascinating time in history, and a very uncertain one for Taiwan.
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