Widescale protests mark first day of new Taiwan president
Lai Ching-te’s first day as president of Taiwan has been marked by large protests against the opposition over a controversial bill in parliament, foreshadowing a difficult first term for the leader, who lacks a legislative majority.
Thousands of Taiwanese citizens gathered outside the Legislative Yuan to protest against attempts by the opposition parties to push through a bill without review, which would give parliamentarians extraordinary powers to question anyone, including the president, under threat of fines and jail time. On Friday one MP was taken to hospital after the parties came to blows over the debate.
Critics of the opposition’s actions warned that the chaos and disunity being fomented plays into the hands of China, which has vowed to annex Taiwan and considers its government to be separatists.
Protests began in the morning and by late afternoon had swelled to several thousand.
Speakers included activists and politicians, along with Nymphia Wind, the Taiwanese drag queen who recently won Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Wind, who is US-based and drew formal congratulations from the former president Tsai Ing-wen, said Taiwan’s small population meant politics was “all around” and affected everyone daily.
“We need to defend what we care about today, and everyone should stand up for it,” she said.
A nearby Presbyterian church, known for its support of the activist community, had thrown open its doors for food and shelter, projecting livestreams behind the pulpit of the sitting – where opposition MPs held control and wore body armour. The stream paused only for the 7pm service.
The legislature was expected to keep sitting until midnight, while protesters vowed to stay outside.
Experts have called the bill potentially unconstitutional, and a threat to national security as it appeared to compel answers regardless of whether the information was protected or sensitive, and could punish legislators for vaguely defined acts of “contempt of congress”.
Lai won January’s election in a three-way race, but his party – the ruling Democratic Progressive party (DPP) lost control of the legislature.
Instead the two major opposition parties, the Kuomintang (KMT) – which is in favour of closer ties with China – and newcomers the Taiwan People’s party (TPP), hold the majority and have teamed up to push through the bill, which also includes $61bn (£47.9bn) in infrastructure spending which would likely cripple Taiwan’s budget, including for defence. Taiwan has boosted its defence spending to deter attacks or attempted invasions by China.
On Friday the parliament descended into a brawl as the DPP sought to stop the opposition parties pushing the bill through, resulting in one new MP, the former civil society worker Puma Shen, being taken to hospital.