While World Condemns Storming of U.S. Capitol, Taiwan's Government Stays Silent
News Compiled and Reported by Taiwan Weekly
The United States Capitol was stormed by supporters of President Donald Trump on January 6 in an attempt to block the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election, an event which shocked the world. Thanks to strong law enforcement by the police and the National Guard, the riot ended four hours later. One police officer and four civilians were killed, and more than 50 people were arrested. In the early hours of the next morning, the Congress officially certified that Joe Biden won the election.
The office of former President Ma Ying-jeou stated that this incident highlighted the fact that any democracy which embraces the rule of law cannot tolerate illegal violence; social order and government operations must be maintained; and the boundaries of the rule of law must not be crossed. When the United States Congress was violently invaded, the police and national guard rose to the occasion and quickly quelled the riot. Regrettably, when leaders of various countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, New Zealand, Australia, and India condemned the violence, why did President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang remain silent instead?
The office of the former president also pointed out that, regardless of party affiliation, there is unanimous support for police enforcement. Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama condemned the brutal invasion of Congress. The incident of Trump supporters forcing into the Capitol reminds many people in Taiwan of the Sunflower Student Movement, protesters of which broke into the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan in 2014. In contrast, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), then the opposition party, not only endorsed student violent actions and encouraged party members to support student occupation. Especially when the Executive Yuan was invaded and damaged by violent students, Tsai, Su, and former premiers Yu Shyi-kun and Frank Hsieh, all of whom now serve key government positions, also went to the scene to show their support by a sit-in. However, after the DPP came to power in 2016, the administration not only withdrew the indictment of those who invaded the government office and damaged public property, but also promoted the leader of the student movement to a key position within the ruling party.
Ma’s office stated that the United States is Taiwan’s most important ally, and President Tsai has always been proud of the good relations between Taiwan and the United States. President Tsai has repeatedly expressed her support for the Hong Kong democracy movement, but why did she remain mute about the violence trampling on American democracy? President-elect Joe Biden is about to take office, and U.S.-Taiwan relations will enter a new stage. Given President Tsai’s silence now and her past support for the Sunflower protests, does she not worry that the Biden administration would surmise that she approves of this violent chaos stirred up by Trump?
During an interview, former Premier Jiang Yi-huah, who served in that position during the Sunflower protests, said that the scene of the United States Congress being occupied by the mob is very similar to the scene of the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan being occupied by the 2014 Sunflower Student Movement, which make people feel distressed about the fragility of democracy and the rule of law. The violent invasion of the Legislative Yuan and the Congress by the protesters are illegal acts that cannot be tolerated, but the United States treats similar violence with obvious double standards. On the one hand, the United States often encourages foreign opposition forces to contend or fight for their causes, and even went as far as praising violent occupations in Taiwan or Hong Kong as democratic movements and criticizing the police law enforcement as government violence. But on the other hand, when the sanctity of its own Congress was brutally violated in violent occupation, it considered the activity to have crossed the boundaries of democracy and rule of law and absolutely not tolerable and strongly supported the police law enforcement.
The former premier said that the Sunflower protests of 2014 caused the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan to be forced into and occupied by the riotous students. Those with the slightest sense of the rule of law are very clear that constitutional bodies of government must not be occupied by any masses in any violent way, but the atmosphere in Taiwanese society sympathized with the protesters and students, so it did not matter that these actions actually violated the rule of law and harmed democracy.
Jiang also said that after certifying the election of Biden as president of the United States, the next is to observe whether there are other variables before January 20, including Trump’s next steps and response by the Biden administration. From the perspective of foreign observers, we all hope that the United States will complete the transfer of power in a smooth manner, and there will be no more violent disputes, so that the government may slowly stabilize. If the United States were to be brought down because of Trump's personal actions, American democracy would become a negative teaching material, leaving other countries doubting the legitimacy and resilience of the democratic political system.
From:
https://www.storm.mg/article/3370326