Taiwan Stands Up for Democracy

In this episode we’re once again reporting from Taipei, on the growing protests against congressional reform legislation being pushed through Taiwan’s parliament or Legislative Yuan by the China-friendly KMT or Kuomintang and the smaller Taiwan People’s party or TPP. In the previous episode of this podcast, we reported from the protests on Tuesday May 21st when an estimated 10 to 15 thousand protesters showed up to demonstrate about the disregard for procedural due process and the content of a new package of reform legislation which many feel would challenge the authority of newly elected DPP president, Lai Ching-te. By midnight on Tuesday, the new legislation still lingered in the review process, so on Friday May 24th, the Legislature continued to debate the bills and the public returned to the streets around the parliament in Taipei. We went there to report on the action and hear people’s concerns. By 9:00pm on Friday, organizers estimated that 100,000 people had come out to demonstrate against the package of new bills being pushed through Taiwan’s parliament by the KMT and TPP. According to local analysts, Taiwan hasn’t seen protests of this size since the 2014 Sunflower Movement. On Friday, we spoke to a cross section of the crowd to hear their perspectives including former Taipei City councilor Miao Poya who, after a passionate speech to the assembled crowd, told us what her main concerns are with this new legislation.