Agence France Press has an interesting article out today on the made-for-media event taking place in Taipei.Around 3,000 demonstrators braved the cold and rain overnight in the Taiwanese capital, some of them sleeping rough on the streets, as they sought to maintain pressure on Chen, who has been dogged by allegations of corruption.
But, as the rain continued through Sunday, few more people appeared and there were signs that the campaign might be losing momentum after a first day when tens of thousands took to the streets.
Campaign leader Shih Ming-teh issued a rallying call to his supporters, huddled outside the presidential office in raincoats, urging them to turn out in their droves and not to let up despite the weather.
"There could be more rain today and tomorrow. But here I want to implore you not to be absent from this historic moment. I hope you can bring your friends and family here," Shih told reporters.
Reduced numbers were inevitable, given the proposed duration of the "protest" and the fact that it is highly unlikely to be successful. Organizers blamed the rain for the pathetic turnout, but they also revealed something very interesting:
Campaign spokesman Emile Sheng laughed off Huang's remarks, saying the numbers were impressive especially given the fact that no buses had been laid on to bring people in as had often been the case in the past.
"The day one number may not be as high as we had previously forecast, but if the fact that not a single bus has been mobilized is taken into consideration, the public's response was as strong as we had predicted. Our supporters are spontaneous," he said.
Can a Blue protest be sustained if the protesters don't get paid and transportation isn't provided? Apparently not. If numbers continue to dwindle, what stunt will Shih think of next? Today someone shouted at him that he ought to call a general strike, and he replied that it was not impossible. I can just imagine what that will look like to all the local bosses.....
BOSS: You want to do what?
WORKER: (earnestly) I'd like to go out on strike. To protest A-Bian.(thinking) Great! A day off! I'll just go home and play mah-jong with Second Auntie.
BOSS: (thinking) Great! A day off! He'll just go home and play mah-jong with Second Auntie. Protest A-Bian on your own time!
Meanwhile the AFP report also noted:
Organizers of the anti-Chen campaign put Saturday's attendance at around 200,000, though police reportedly estimated the turnout at 90,000. Shih had said in the run-up to the protest that he hoped 300,000 would turn out.
Estimates as low as 80,000 for Saturday are now being booted about. It's pretty clear that Saturday's protest numbers were nowhere near the turnout claimed by organizers. Ugly rumors abound -- the papers here have suggested that Shih might commit suicide at the end of the campaign, also a hot topic of conversation among locals.
The writer of that report should be commended for calling it the "anti-Chen" campaign, and not the anti-corruption campaign, as the Blue papers are calling it. Apple Daily, supposedly non-partisan, also referred to it as an "anti-corruption wave" in its headline on the first day of the protest.
All I can say is that I sincerely hope Shih winds it up quickly and -- alive.
Don't miss: Oiwan has translations of blogposts from Taiwan. Thanks for the link to me, Oiwan
[Taiwan] [Taipei] [Shih Ming-deh/Shih Ming-te] [James Soong] [Chen Shui-bian] [Democracy] [DPP] [Emile Sheng]
9 comments:
The fact that you live in Taiwan does not mean that you "get it". It is apparent in your writing ("a pan-blue protest"?, Hello?) you don't have the slightest idea what's happening. Take a walk at Ketagalan. Read the protestors' faces, talk to some. You are so wrong. You will see that the protest is not dwindling if you would come out from that shell of yours and take a look.
The fact that you live in Taiwan does not make you an expert in Taiwanese affairs. It is apparent in your writing ("a pan-blue protest", hello?) that you haven't the slightest idea what's happening around you. Go down Ketagalan yourself, read the protestors' faces, talk to some. You would see how wrong you have been if you come out from that shell.
The fact that you live in Taiwan does not make you an expert in Taiwanese affairs.
Quite true. If you can point out where I claimed to be an expert....
It is apparent in your writing ("a pan-blue protest", hello?) that you haven't the slightest idea what's happening around you.
Hmmmm....a protest led by prominent pro-Blue politicians like Shih Ming-te, funded by Blues, touted in the Blue newspapers, and rejected by Greens....in what sense is that not a Blue protest?
You would see how wrong you have been if you come out from that shell.
Sorry, I'm too busy traveling around Taiwan taking pictures and talking to people to come out of my shell...
Michael
I went there to have a look (not to offer support!!!) at lunch time today (11 Sep 2006). I doubt there were even 3,000 people there. I guess 2,000 tops.
By this time next week, there will probably be half a dozen people sitting on the footpath.
Since you seem to reply to any idiot, I have some questions that may help me understand Taiwan's political situation and be able to support one side or the other.
1. You seem to be very pro "green" and pro Chen Shui Bian, despite the obvious and admitted corruption in Chen's government. From reading your posts it appears that you can defend Chen on the basis that the KMT was worse, with worse corruption and more serious wrongdoings. How does this analysis help the genuine anti-corruption advocates? Should not any government official who is corrupt, be forced to step down or impeached and not be able to say the predecessor did worse? By defending theives do you not condone future corruption? Wont the future KMT president be held to the same standard in this new environment of awareness of corruption in the media and with the public? Further, how can you compare corruption during a dictatorship with corruption in a government that is supposed to be democratic and against the authoritarian excesses of the past? Should not the later be held to a higher standard?
If Shih Minh De is genuine in his anti-corruption stance and not a puppet of the pan blues, then does he not have a legitimate right to protest the corruption of Chen. Is it not consistent of him, after being imprisoned by one corrupt and authoritarian regime to then protest another corrupt regime?
2. You have defended Chen's actions regarding the payment of his family's maid out of the public funds. Since he paid it back has he not admitted serious wrongdoing, especially paying it back after he was caught? If a lawyer uses his clients trust funds he is disbarred and charged with theft. If a 7-11 employee takes money from the till for his own purposes, he is fired and charged with theft. It does not matter one bit (except maybe for sentencing purposes after conviction) that those people paid the money back.
3. You are seemingly in support of the various name changes of public places out of CKS's name, most recently the airport, of which will cost taxpayers lots of money. While CKS was a ruthless dictator, did he not at least fight the communists in China and keep Taiwan from being communist, thus setting the stage for Taiwan's economic development and later democracy. I don't think the DPP would be allowed to exist in communist China, so do they not owe at least some thanks?
4. Is independence that important to Taiwan. I think most people here want the status quo. I used to think that independence was the greatest thing for Taiwan, but have been listening to some more foresighted people who realize that independence will merely mean Taiwan becomes one of the dinky, irrelevant counties that A Bien likes to so often visit, asking for them to support UN declarations and other independence bids. China is changing and may one day be a democracy. It is now and certainly will be in the future, if not the most, one of the most important countries in the world. Would not everyone benefit from Taiwna being a part of a democratic China instead of a dinky irrelevant country with no international voice and dependant on China for survival?
5. Why did the KMT never change their name or do something to disasociate themselves from the dictatorship of the past? Aren't people afraid to support this party because of its past? Isn't it like the Nazi party trying to get elected in Germany?
6. Do you think that a KMT government will be able to turn back the democratic gains already made here? Do you think the public will accept corruption in their governing more than they accept Chen's corruption?
7. Why do you hate TVBS? Did they not have a hand in criticizing the KMT government when in power. Now they criticize the green party and are labelled communists.
Well thats it for now. I look forward to reading your response(s). I hope I can be enlightened to your point of view, or more importantly, be able to win an argument with my Taiwanese wife over these issues.
Can a Blue protest be sustained if the protesters don't get paid and transportation isn't provided? Apparently not.
Which makes it the same as any pan-green rally.
Make no doubt about it. The weather made a huge dent in the numbers. I stopped by on Sunday afternoon to check it out and take pictures, but my camera got too fogged up. I was literally up to my ankles in cold rain water.
But on the other hand, the idea that this rally would somehow build momentum until an unstoppable force dragged A-Bian out of office was ridiculous from the start. The turnout will peter down to a couple of dozen nutwings by the end of the week.
Michael, I genuinely love reading your blog, your opinions and analysis are very entertaining regardless how partisan they are, please keep it up.
BTW, I'm curious as to what kind of concrete and irrefutable evidence points to Shih being funded by Blues? Doesn't he also receive funding from some Greens as well, like from President Chen as recent as last year?
Okay look, Michael, your analyses are usually good, but you need to accept something--
Many previously pan-Green supporters are now anti-Chen/pro-Ma Ying-jeou. Not only that, but a portion of those people that voted for CSB back in 2000 and yes!, even as late as 2004 are now pro-unification. That may seem difficult to believe but you have to understand that Taiwanese are much more sensitive to what's going on in China just because there's little linguistic barrier. That many Taiwanese people will assume any random white foreigner is a great guy just because the West, namely the US is extraordinary wealthy is the same reasoning they will use when they see China's economy continuously growing by leaps and bounds.
China has a lot of things that are distasteful to Americans--the living standards are shitty, it's polluted as fuck, and boy, those manners... but ask Taiwanese what they think--a lot of them basically just think it's a cheap place to live. Yes, they don't get along with Chinese a lot of the time, but they can much more readily accept the living conditions, and they are much more in awe of the noveau riche of China than many Westerners/Americans would be.
I completely agree that media is fairly biased towards pan-Blue in Taiwan, but this again, is another perceptual difference between foreigners and Taiwanese--to many people, most news/media is neutral with perhaps a slight pro-Blue slant, but to them, the pan-Green media is off-the-wall. Given that kind of perceptual filter, you really think there aren't true pan-Greens that participated in that rally? People with very deep emotional commitments to CSB now feel very disappointed, justified or not. I don't think it's hard to believe that there are hard core pan-Greens participating in the rally at all.
Note: I'm not agreeing with the apologist for murderer, back-stabber, and former president, Chiang Kai-shek. I'm just pointing out there was some significant truly pan-Green participation in that rally (whether they are pan-Green anymore is a separate issue, but they were up to fairly recently).
Many previously pan-Green supporters are now anti-Chen/pro-Ma Ying-jeou. Not only that, but a portion of those people that voted for CSB back in 2000 and yes!, even as late as 2004 are now pro-unification.
Duh. I can't imagine why you would think I didn't know that.
Given that kind of perceptual filter, you really think there aren't true pan-Greens that participated in that rally?
I never said that there were not. I don't understand why you sat down to write me things I already and obviously know.
Michael
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