At 21, I am a good four years older than Taiwan's democracy. It's history is complex at best, a tangled coil of widely varied opinions at worst. But this spring, after near forty years of martial law and autocracy, rapid changes and chaotic elections, Taiwan's new generation of students has spoken up. They act in the legacy of the Wild Lily Student Movement in 1990, the first of its kind, but this time they act with a new conscience, and with wildly different methods.
Many of you who are aware of Taiwan's existence (and I'm sad to say that these aren't numerous at all) do not know that the country's official name is R.O.C., which stands for Republic of China.
That sure is very confusing - let me give you the gist of it. After World War II civil war broke out in China (again), which was The Chinese Nationalist Party vs. The Communists - obviously, as we can all see today, the communists won and drove the Nationalists out.
And where did they go? To Taiwan, an island of the coast of China, an entire battered army of men, supporters, officials. They basically took the Republic of China to Taiwan, while the communists called out the People's Republic of China.
One word, big difference.
Once everything was established, the Chinese Nationalist Party declared martial law and basically continued to rule over Taiwan in the complete fashions of a dictatorship for the next forty or so years. The 90s, along with tasteless fashion, brought changes, and in 1996, when I was very exactly four years old, the first presidential elections took place.
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Granted, I was one of the late-comers, and the streets were already bursting at the seams with all the students that now sat outside the legislature in support of those who made it inside.
"Retract the Trade Agreement! Stand for democracy!" People chanted.
Speeches are given, and time and time again the question is asked: "Do you understand what this is about? Do you realize what the cross-strait agreement will do to this country?"
I believe that this student movement is a part of the effort to maintain Taiwan's independence. The current Chinese Nationalist Party, paradoxically enough, has started becoming decidedly China friendly after forty years of cross-strait tension. China itself, eager to 'reunite' the island to the 'motherland' and fortify its territories, approves.
And this, next to the very real worries for Taiwan's economy, is the fundamental problem that has caused the student uprising.
The protesters say the agreement with China would hurt Taiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to pressure from Beijing.
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