<nettime> Timeline of Taiwan's 'Sunflower Movement'

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Major events of Taiwan's 'Sunflower Movement'
2014/04/07 23:43:01

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201404070039.aspx

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) The student-led occupation of Taiwan's parliament
over a trade-in-services agreement with China that began March 18 is due
to end on April 10.

The following are major events in the 23-day protest dubbed "the
Sunflower Movement":

March 17 -- In a chaotic joint session of eight committees of the
Legislative Yuan, Chang Ching-chung, a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) lawmaker
and convener of the meeting, declared the review of the much-delayed
agreement was over and submitted to the Legislature's plenary meeting
for reference. The move triggered angry response from activists groups
as well as the opposition parties. (Link to story)

March 18 -- Hitherto little known groups such as the Democratic Front
Against Cross-strait Trade in Services Agreement held an evening rally
outside the Legislative Yuan, which turned into a storming of the
Legislature by hundreds of protesters. Using swivel chairs and other
furniture, they blocked themselves in the main legislative chamber and
police attempts overnight to evict them were unsuccessful. (Link to story)

Hundreds of people -- mainly students -- who support the occupation
gathered outside the legislative compound. The protesters' first demands
included Premier Jiang Yi-huah's resignation, an apology from President
Ma Ying-jeou and a return of the service trade pact to an item-by-item
review by the legislative committees.

March 21 -- Ma called a meeting with Vice President Wu Den-yih, Jiang
and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng in a bid to end the confrontation
but it was canceled after Wang excused himself, saying in a letter that
the nature of the dispute is different from one that would require the
intervention of the head of state. Calls from Ma failed to change his
mind. (Link to story)

March 22 -- Jiang went to see the protesters. He was met outside the
Legislative Yuan by Lin Fei-fan and other student leaders, who demanded
that, for a dialogue to happen, the premier should promise first to
withdraw the service trade pact from the legislature and to enact a new
law aimed at closer scrutiny of all agreements with China. Jiang
rejected the preconditions for a dialogue. (Link to story)

March 23 -- Ma called an international press conference, in which he
stressed the importance of the service trade agreement to Taiwan's
economy and its efforts not to be marginalized. (Link to story) The
student-led movement said the president did not show any sincerity in
having a dialogue with the protesters.
:

Student leader Lin issued four demands, which included a civic
conference on constitutional government, legalizing the oversight
mechanism of cross-Taiwan Strait agreements, no action on the service
trade pact until the new oversight law is enacted and a pledge by all
legislators to work on the new legislation first. (Link to story)

In the evening, hundreds of protesters broke into the Executive Yuan
compound, which is about two hundred meters from the Legislative Yuan.
Some of them broke windows and knock down doors to enter the main
building. (Link to story)

After reinforcements were sent in, police began removing the protesters
first by carrying them away one by one but later started to use water
cannons. The compound was cleared of demonstrators by daybreak. Some two
hundred people were sent to hospitals for treatment. (Link to story)


March 24 -- Wang, the legislative speaker, called leaders of legislative
caucuses for consultations for the first time. Five more rounds of talks
took place at his residence but all broke down as neither the ruling nor
the opposition party could agree on how to proceed. (Link to story)

March 25 -- The president said through a spokesperson that he is willing
to hold a dialogue with the students without any preconditions in order
to resolve the dispute. (Link to story)

March 28 -- For the first time, the premier said the administration is
open to the possibility of legalizing the mechanism for the oversight of
all cross-strait agreements. At the same time, he rejected the students'
demand that the service trade agreement be withdrawn from the
legislature. (Link to story)

March 29 -- The president held a second press conference to explain the
administration's position on the dispute. (Link to story)

March 30 -- A massive rally called by the student leaders was held on
Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the President Office. Organizers said as
many as half million took part in the event. Police said the number was
116,000 at its peak. (Link to story)


March 31 -- KMT lawmaker Chang and Lin Hung-chih, chief whip of the KMT
legislative caucus, apologized for the action taken on March 17, which
they admitted had been the cause of the dispute and social unrest. (Link
to story)

April 1 -- The Unionist Party, founded by former gang member Chang
An-lo, and some labor groups marched on the Legislative Yuan and
demanded the authorities take action against the illegal occupation of
the nation's parliament. They confronted the protesters. Police
struggled to separate the two opposing camps. (Link to story)

April 3 -- In a weekly meeting, the Executive Yuan approved the draft
bill aimed at strengthening the oversight of cross-strait agreements.
(Link to story) Student leader Chen Wei-ting rejected the text of the
bill as "mere form".

As many as ten non-official versions of the proposed legislation were
being discussed by the students. (Link to story)


April 6 -- Wang set foot in the Legislative Yuan for the first time
since March 18 after declaring he will not call any cross-party caucus
meetings on the service trade pact until the new oversight law has been
enacted. Once in the main chamber, he shook hands with Lin, the student
leader, and urged all students to go home. (Link to story)

April 7 -- The student leaders announced they will evacuate the
legislative chamber at 18:00 April 10. (Link to story)

[Chen Wei-ting (front) and Lin Fei-fan (left), two leading figures in
the student movement. CNA photo April 7, 2014]


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