Tens of thousands of supporters of Taiwan’s ruling party are expected to gather outside parliament on Friday after the party pushed for a controversial “contempt of parliament” bill.
The opposition Kuomintang says the new law is urgently needed to correct the power imbalance between the Legislative Yuan and Taiwan’s powerful presidential office.
But the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said it was an unconstitutional power grab aimed at retaliating against the Democratic Progressive Party government led by President Lai Ching-te.
The bill would give Taiwan’s parliament greater power to interrogate and investigate the executive branch, subpoenaing government officials and private individuals, potentially forcing them to hand over sensitive documents to lawmakers.
It also introduces a “contempt of the legislature” clause, which can punish officials who disrespect parliament with fines and even imprisonment of up to one year. This last provision has been roundly criticized by legal scholars, who say it goes well beyond what is normal in other democracies.
When the bill was first introduced in May, massive protests erupted in the streets of Taipei, with tens of thousands of people surrounding Congress for days. But when it was sent to Mr Lai’s office for approval, there was a lull.
Mr Lai sent the bill to parliament for review and it was passed again, this time fairly quickly, with the support of a fragile alliance of the Kuomintang, the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and independents.
But the DPP has been calling for its support, even if it’s just a symbolic show of their opposition to the bill. The KMT launched a counter-protest on Friday, but the numbers (in the hundreds) were lower than those drawn by the DPP last month.
However, these protests reflect deep political differences between supporters of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party and Kuomintang.
For decades, the Chinese nationalist party, the Kuomintang, has ruled Taiwan with an iron fist, brutally suppressing any calls for democracy or independence – with many veteran DPP leaders jailed for radicalization. Now the two parties compete for power at the ballot box. But old suspicions are now fueling parliamentary gridlock.
President Jimmy Lai has been in office just a month but lacks a majority in a divided parliament, meaning his prospects of achieving anything substantial in his first term look dim.
On the streets outside the Legislature, there was real concern about what was going on inside. Thousands of DPP supporters seemed to believe that the defiance of the parliamentary bill was an attempted legislative coup.
“The process was very unfair and skipped any substantive discussion,” said Powei Chang, 33. “The bill itself is extremely dangerous and lacks clear definition. It’s basically a way for lawmakers to expand their power without the consent of the people.
For Mr Zhang, the fact that the legislators in question have a majority in parliament is not good enough.
The people surrounding the Congress came from all walks of life in Taiwan: young people, old people, students, professionals, and blue-collar workers. They sit patiently on rows of plastic stools. On a makeshift stage, a steady stream of activists marched, holding microphones to denounce what was happening inside the chamber.
When a huge afternoon thunderstorm swept across the city in May, organizers handed out plastic ponchos and those who were well prepared held up a sea of umbrellas. No one was left.
They are united by two things: a strong sense of Taiwanese identity and a deep distrust of the motives of the opposition Kuomintang.
“I think what’s happening in Taiwan today is something that people need to stand up against,” said a young woman named Eden Hsu. “We cannot let those who are trying to betray Taiwan think they can do whatever they want without opposition.”
Who will sell Taiwan to? to China.
“Many provisions of the bill appear to be influenced by the Chinese Communist Party,” she said. “The Chinese Communist Party plans… to infiltrate Taiwan using internal and external support.”
This sentiment is repeated over and over again by activists in the streets and on stage. Opponents of the bill generally believe the KMT leadership is now firmly in Beijing’s pocket.
Asked for evidence, protesters and activists alike pointed to frequent visits to China by senior Kuomintang politicians. Foremost among them is Taiwan’s aging former Kuomintang president Ma Ying-jeou. In the past six months, he has traveled to China twice. In April, he was warmly welcomed by President Xi Jinping himself, but Xi Jinping steadfastly refused to engage in any dialogue with Lai or his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen.
A prominent Democratic Progressive Party politician has described former President Ma Ying-jeou as Beijing’s “most important political asset” in Taiwan.
Others seen as “very close to Beijing” include Kuomintang Speaker Han Guoyu, who is often derided by DPP supporters as “Korean Fish,” a homophone of his Chinese name.
“He’s not really blue [the colour of the KMT party flag],” said a DPP politician. “He’s very popular [(the colour of the communist party flag]”.
Another person accused of being “red” is Fu Kunji, the leader of the Kuomintang caucus who is responsible for promoting the “contempt of the Legislative Yuan” bill. Mr Fu is a powerful power broker with a controversial past, including jail time after being convicted of insider stock trading and orchestrating divorce fraud. He is also a frequent visitor to China.
All of this provides useful fodder for rumor and innuendo. But this is not evidence that senior KMT leaders colluded with Beijing. Indeed, the KMT leadership has loudly protested its innocence and pointed to a long history of opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.
“I have more reason to hate Beijing than the DPP,” said Alexander Huang, the KMT’s international minister. “The whole idea [of the bill] It’s about making senior executives more accountable—that’s all.
But when the KMT controlled the presidency and the Legislature from 2008 to 2016, it rejected opposition demands to pass a very similar law – which the Democratic Progressive Party was pushing for at the time.
The Kuomintang also said it may begin investigating DPP leaders once the bill becomes law.
“For eight years, the DPP has had an absolute majority. They can get whatever they want. The executive and legislative bodies unite to enjoy Taiwan’s resources.
