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Taiwanese Flight Attendant Strike Cancels 2,250 Flights

July 28, 2019 Brian Hioe, Labor Notes. , ,
Flight attendants at EVA Air have concluded the largest and longest strike in the history of Taiwan’s airline industry, from June 20 through July 10. Strikers notched a partial victory against a notoriously anti-union company. Now they will have to consolidate their gains and fend off repression. The strikers were all women—EVA does not hire male flight attendants, though it announced in the middle of the strike that it plans to. According to the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU), 2,949 of the airline’s 4,600 cabin crew members participated. Flight attendants set up a giant tent and rallied for 17 straight days outside EVA’s headquarters in the working-class city of Taoyuan, home to Taiwan’s main international airport.

Building Single-Payer Health System: Lessons From Taiwan’s Turnaround

January 5, 2018 By Michael Corcoran, Truthout.org , , ,
There are obvious reasons why some people in the United States oppose the prospect of single-payer health care. Taking the profit out of health care -- a moral imperative and the norm internationally -- poses a major threat to the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies and others. These interests spend millions donatingto and lobbying powerful politicians in both parties. The goal is to do what corporations are designed to do: maximize profit regardless of its impact on outside stakeholders and the public at large.   Capitulating to the donor class is never a good look for politicians, so lobbying and campaign finance are virtually never the stated reasons for opposition to a better health care system. The actual reasons for opposition are often quite separate from the explanations offered to the public.

Idle No More In Solidarity With Indigenous Taiwanese

November 21, 2017 Staff, idlenomore.ca , ,
By Staff of Idle No More - Idle No More stands in solidarity with Indigenous Taiwanese who are currently occupying the 228 Peace Memorial Park/台北市二二八和平紀念公園. This current occupation has been for more than 260 days. INM calls for the Canadian government to impose immediate trade restrictions on Taiwan. Indigenous people have lived in Taiwan for at least 6,000 years. The languages they speak belong to the Austronesian language family. From Taiwan, people speaking Austronesian languages moved into the Pacific, settling islands from the Philippines to Indonesia, all the way from Hawaii and Easter Island to New Zealand and even Madagascar. Since the arrival of the first colonial settlers in Taiwan 400 years ago, tribal land has been shrinking with colonial regimes that include Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Han Chinese. Most tribal land is now government-owned, and some become privately-owned, by descendants of Han settlers. President Tsai Ing-wen apologized to the Indigenous peoples (August 1, 2016) and promised to designate indigenous traditional territory. According to a survey completed in 2007 by the Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP) under the Executive Yuan, indigenous traditional territory was around 1.8 million hectares of land.

Protesters In Taiwan Rally Against Nuclear Power

May 2, 2016 I-fan Lin, www.globalvoices.org , ,
By I-fan Lin for Global Voices - Major cities across Taiwan recently witnessed mass demonstrations advocating for renewable energy policy and the decommissioning of the country's nuclear power stations. On March 14, as many as 45,000 people protested against the plan of the state-owned Taiwan Power Company for sending abroad 1,200 highly radioactive used fuel rods from the island’s first and second nuclear plants. Reprocessing of these sent fuel rods would extend the service lives of the plants, which are scheduled to go out of service in the next six years.

Protesters In Taiwan Rally Against Nuclear Power

April 5, 2015 Bu Staff, www.globalvoicesonline.org , ,
Major cities across Taiwan recently witnessed mass demonstrations advocating for renewable energy policy and the decommissioning of the country's nuclear power stations. On March 14, as many as 45,000 people protested against the plan of the state-owned Taiwan Power Company for sending abroad 1,200 highly radioactive used fuel rods from the island’s first and second nuclear plants. Reprocessing of these sent fuel rods would extend the service lives of the plants, which are scheduled to go out of service in the next six years. However, the protesters rejected the reprocessing because it is too expensive, and the radioactive products of reprocessing will be eventually sent back to Taiwan. Two days after the anti-nuke demonstration, the legislators agreed to freeze the Taiwan Power Company's plan to reprocess the fuel rods overseas. Concerns about Taiwan’s nuclear power plants have mounted since the Fukushima nuclear accident, which resulted from an earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan in March 2011. Also located on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Taiwan faces significant risks with its three relatively outdated nuclear power plants.

Taiwan Charges 118 In Student-Led Occupy Protests

February 12, 2015 Ralph Jennings, www.voanews.com , , ,
Taiwanese prosecutors have charged 118 people suspected of trespassing and other crimes related to student-led occupy protests in Taipei last year. But the suspects may get off with light sentences as the government seeks better relations with Taiwanese youth. Hundreds of people broke into Taiwan’s parliament in March, occupying it for about three weeks to protest against ratification of a services trade pact with political rival China. As the protest spread into the thousands, with many of those involved disputing overall economic ties with China, one group broke into the cabinet’s guarded office complex until police forced them out in a series of overnight scuffles.

Taiwanese Protesters Plot Next Steps After Parliament Occupation

April 18, 2014 Neslon Moura, www.wagingnonviolence.org ,
At 6:07 a.m. on April 10, the students inside the Taiwanese parliament voluntarily left the assembly hall while 20,000 people outside showed their support and witnessed the end of the occupation. The students passed sunflowers one by one from the parliament to the crowd to symbolize planting the seeds of democracy in Taiwanese society. This action was followed by a series of lectures and the crowd sang, once again, the Sunflower Movement protest song “Island’s Sunrise” together. Since April 7, when the students announced the end of their protest, the students gradually began to clean up the parliament. They took down the banners on the facade of the parliament, placed the room chair in correct order and cleaned most of the rooms. It was a calm ending to an occupation that had extended for almost a month — a standoff between the Sunflower Movement student protesters and President Ma Ying Jeou’s government.

Occupy Taiwan Sunflower Movements Moves To Next Stage

April 8, 2014 Sunflower Movement, www.facebook.com ,
As the occupation of the legislature enters its 21st day, we give our deepest gratitude to the citizens of Taiwan for their participation and support. It is they who have given this movement a strong, justifiable cause from the beginning. Today, we would like to announce an important decision. The occupation of the legislature has completed its task at this phase, and has achieved substantial progress. It has made Taiwanese citizens realize that it is our choice not to let the rules and authority of the past generation to confine us, and that the constitutional principle that “sovereignty shall reside in the whole body of citizens” is a living experience that belongs to every Taiwanese citizen of our generation. We understand that each person holds a different expectation and aspiration toward this movement; however, as we look back on the achievements we’ve made so far, we’ve decided that the time has come to convert the energy gathered by a students’ movement into a citizens’ movement. This is the right moment for the youth in the legislature to walk to all corners of Taiwan.

Is Taiwan Style Protest Developing In Hong Kong?

March 27, 2014 Alex Lo, www.scmp.com , , ,
We all know how Occupy Central will play out if its organisers go ahead with it - exactly like the scenes of mayhem in Taipei we have just witnessed this week. Organiser and academic Dr Benny Tai Yiu-ting has called it Occupy Central with Love and Peace. He sounds almost like a hippie. His protest colleague and fellow academic, Dr Chan Kin-man, says all peaceful and legal means will be tried before resorting to civil disobedience, which by definition, is illegal. But he warns they may have to push forward the planned "occupation" to this summer, rather than wait till the end of the year, as Tai has hinted. Apparently, the occupation of the parliament by Taiwanese student protesters and their failed bid to take over Taiwan's cabinet building has energised their counterparts in Hong Kong.

Police Evict Students From Taiwan Parliament, Injure Over 150

March 27, 2014 Lawrence Chung, www.scmp.com , , ,
More than 150 people were injured and 61 students arrested after riot police armed with batons and water cannon waded in to break up a protest over a trade pact with China at Taiwan's parliament in the early hours of Monday. Seven waves of police brandishing riot shields marched towards students forcing them away from the courtyard of the Executive Yuan building, which demonstrators had broken into hours earler, after President Ma Ying-jeou failed to soothe public anger at his administration's handling of the free-trade pact with the mainland. Demonstrators chanting "No more police brutality" and "Police back off" laid down and linked arms and legs in an effort to halt the eviction from the cabinet compound, while others lashed out at police before being beaten back with batons and, as dawn broke, water cannon.

Taiwan’s Sunflower Student Revolution

March 26, 2014 China Uncensored, www.youtube.com , , ,
On March 18, thousands of Taiwanese students occupied Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. A few days later, hundreds more took the Executive Yuan, before police violently evicted them, even going so far as using water cannons. They call themselves the Sunflower Revolution. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has pushed forward a trade deal with China called the Trade in Services Agreement that many in Taiwan feel will give the Chinese Communist Party control over the island, eroding away their hard won democracy, freedoms, and human rights. But Ma sees it as vital to maintain Taiwan's competitive edge in the international market and if they go back on the agreement, it will damage their credibility as a trading partner. But with the CCP gradually encroaching on Hong Kong using similar economic soft power, will Taiwan be next? Find out on this episode of China Uncensored.

Taiwan Occupy Congress Excalates

March 23, 2014 Staff, www.revolution-news.com , , , , ,
Taiwan occupation: 30,000 supporters expected on Saturday have arrived, It’s upgraded from opposing unjust trade pact to a war for Taiwan’s democracy! Activists occupying the chamber hall of legislative yuan announced that they would prolong their 120hrs occupy into an unlimited struggle, as President Ma failed to answer their demands about the contentious China trade pact. Starting from Sat, Mar 22, Protesters expand their actions, 1st by calling on the public to join surrounding KMT(the Chinese Nationalist Party) local headquarters nationwide(already happened), now occupy the congress won’t stop until the gov answer the protest with goodwill, withdraw the China trade pact & pass the monitoring legislation!

Taiwan Activists Challenge Trade Agreement With China

March 21, 2014 Agencies in Taipei, www.theguardian.com , ,
Thousands of young Taiwanese waved banners and shouted slogans to mark the third day of their occupation of parliament to protest against a trade pact with China which they fear could further swell Beijing's economic influence. Parliamentary approval of the pact would pave the way for greater economic integration between the two former geopolitical foes by opening 80 of China's service sectors to Taiwan and 64 Taiwanese sectors to China. The protesters say the deal will damage Taiwan's economy and leave it vulnerable to political pressure from China. "We will continue [the occupation] since [President] Ma did not respond to our demands or hold an open dialogue with the students and the people. We will take further actions," one of the protest leaders, Huang Yu-feng, told reporters. Details would be unveiled later in the day, she said, after their ultimatum expired at noon on Friday.
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