Let Students Besieging the Legislature Speak Before Resuming Review

Let Students Besieging the Legislature Speak Before Resuming Review
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
March 21, 2014

Summary: As for the students laying siege to the Legislative Yuan. They have had the pleasure of occupying the legislature. They have had the pleasure of heckling the premier. They have even had the pleasure of scolding the president. Now they may wish to settle down, take a calm look at the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. Just what is it? Do not equate your "Books for Dummies" understanding of it with the truth.

Full text below:

The day before yesterday, Premier Chiang went to the Legislative Yuan to speak with the students gathered outside. Instead, he was heckled. President Ma also went to the firing line, where he held a press conference with the foreign media. He stressed the importance and necessity of the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. He responded to questions from reporters. President Ma has already presented a comprehensive case for the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. But the response of the student leaders occupying the grounds of the legislature was swift. It made clear that  the president and the protesting students are not even on the same page. The president considers the protesting students' demands utterly unacceptable. Conversely, most students are not the least bit interested in listening to the president's argument for the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. As a result, situation remains deadlocked.

In fact this was predictable. The protesting students initially demanded that the premier step down and that the president issue an apology. Later, they demanded that the president "take back the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services" and "establish rules for oversight of the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services." This alone made it a non-starter. This alone precluded the possibility of any dialogue. Premier Chiang visited the protest site outside the Legislative Yuan. He even asked for the chance to say a few words. His request was rejected outright. President Ma is not about to visit the site and be subjected to even worse humiliations. The ruling authorities have labored for eight to nine months on the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. Will their efforts be for naught, merely because the legislature grounds are occupied? If they are, then maybe we should demand that the premier step down, and that the president apologize. Frankly, no elected government would dare submit to such demands.

So what next? The halls of the legislature belong to the people as a whole. It has been reduced to the protesting students' sit in site. They have made it clear that unless the government acquiesces to their demands, they will continue to occupy the site and refuse to leave. They will soon test the patience of the community. The legislature is authorized by the taxpayers to legislate. Legislation has always required negotiations. It has always required the minority to obey the majority. A minority party forcibly occupies the podium because it is unable to prevent the passage of a bill. It even helps students occupy the entire legislature. It spins this as "citizen participation." In any dialogue with them, the only acceptable answers are their answers. All other answers are brushed aside. One has to wonder. What do those citizens who must pay taxes think of this? 

President Ma convened a press conference. He patiently described the role of the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. The circumstances may have influenced the manner of his presentation and its audience. He was clearly not addressing the protesting students besieging the legislature. He was clearly addressing the people of the nation as a whole. He was speaking to those individual taxpayers whose careers and futures would be affect by the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. Most of them are working hard to increase Taiwan's competitiveness. They have no time to kill surfing Internet comments sections. They have no time to engage in online debate. They are more concerned that their children might skip class and catch a cold while laying siege to the legislature overnight. Naturally these people have no time to express solidarity with President Ma. They have no time to sound off in the media. President Ma probably realizes praising the students' patriotism and humiliated himself before them would have done little to resolve the impasse.

What will the protesting students' next move be? Will they declare victory and go home? Will they struggle to the bitter end? The latter seems more likely. Unfortunately the decision to wage long-term war may be simple. But discovering an honorable way to step down may be hard. Executive branch agencies have made it clear they will not forcibly evict the students. They probably will not talk to them either. This is the middle of the university semester. If the students decide to sacrifice their studies, and stand their ground to the bitter end, they will eventually find that their aspirations are unachievable. All they might be able to do is cultivate a few new generation candidates for future DPP election campaigns. Besides Wang Jin-pyng, they are the biggest beneficiaries of the struggle.

The student occupation of the legislature has taught everyone a lesson. Today's Taiwan remains dogged by divisions. In addition to reunification vs. Taiwan independence divisions, Blue Camp vs. Green Camp divisions, Northern Region vs. Southern Region divisions, and class divisions, there are generation vs. generation divisions. The young students gathered around the legislature are a preview of coming attractions. The 90s generation on Taiwan has officially debuted and spoken up. This is the "PC mouse generation," whose hands are never far from their cell phones. During all these years the economy has been poor. Youth employment has been difficult. Starting salaries have been low. Consumer prices have risen. Housing prices have been even more terrifying. This generation has become a stifled, lost, and anxious generation. Their understanding of the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services derives mostly from Internet "Books for Dummies." They gathered at the Legislative Yuan mostly through social media mobilization. If one attempts to dialogue with them while ignoring these facts, one will naturally talk past them. Unfortunately, few in the ruling administration are willing to make an effort in this regard. They persist in using older generation language and communication techniques. Is it any wonder they have wound up with egg on their faces from beginning to end?

As for the students laying siege to the Legislative Yuan. They have had the pleasure of occupying the legislature. They have had the pleasure of heckling the premier. They have even had the pleasure of scolding the president. Now they may wish to settle down, take a calm look at the Cross-Strait Agreement in Trade in Services. Just what is it? Do not equate your "Books for Dummies" understanding of it with the truth. Before entering a mature civil society, cultivate your own reason and judgment. Let this experience become the key to your becoming an adult.

社論－給立法院現場學生的幾句話
稍後再讀
中國時報 本報訊 2014年03月24日 04:10

江揆前日赴立院外與學生溝通被嗆後，馬總統昨也親上火線，召開中外記者會，向全民說明《服貿協議》的重要性與必要性，並回應記者提問。儘管馬總統已經就何以必須簽訂《服貿協議》做了很完整的論述，但從占領立院議場學生領袖的即時回應看來，很明顯，總統與抗議學生之間根本沒有對上焦。抗議學生的訴求總統不可能接受，總統對《服貿協議》的說明，多數學生也沒有興趣理解，所以結論是：僵局依舊！

其實這個結論在事前就可以預期，抗議學生先是要求閣揆下台、總統道歉，後來又提出「退回服貿協議」、「建立兩岸協議監督條例」兩大訴求，而且還設定其為對話的前提，這其實已經封阻了任何對話的可能，江揆親赴在立院外抗議現場，連要求講幾分鐘話的機會都不給，馬總統去現場豈不是遭受到更大的羞辱！同樣的，執政當局如果因為議場被占據，就將已經努力8、9個月的《服貿協議》立法進程一切歸零，那麼恐怕我們會也要求閣揆下台、總統道歉了，講得再直白一些，沒有任何民選政府，敢於在這樣的要脅下屈服的。

重點是，接下來怎麼辦？一座全民擁有的國會殿堂，如今淪為抗議學生的休憩場所，而且擺明了就是除非依他們意，否則就是霸占不走了，那麼接下來考驗的，恐怕是社會的耐心了。立院可是被納稅人授權來立法的，立法本來就是要協商的，也本來就是該服從多數的，如果少數黨抵制不成就霸占主席台，甚至放任學生霸占整個國會議場，還宣稱這叫做「公民參與」，與他們對話只准接受他們的答案，別的選項一概不談，試問對那些真正在納稅的公民，能怎麼想呢？

所以，馬總統召開記者會，不厭其煩的針對《服貿協議》的定位、來龍去脈乃至可能的影響做仔細說明，所設定的聽眾，很明顯根本不是議場內外的抗議學生，而是全國的民眾，那些會受到《服貿協議》通過與否而影響個人生計與發展的納稅人，其中絕大多數都在為台灣的競爭力打拚，既沒時間在網路討論區上消磨，也沒時間去任何現場抗爭，更擔心自己孩子不去上課卻圍在立法院過夜，會不會著涼！當然，這些人沒時間聲援馬總統，也不會有機會在媒體上發聲，所以，馬總統或許會發現，即便他已經肯定了學生的愛國心，也放低了身段，但對抗爭僵局的化解，好像幫助不大。

抗爭學生接下來的處境也將面臨考驗，是見好就收呢，還是抗爭到底呢？看樣子選擇後者的可能性比較多，問題是選擇長期抗戰的決定很簡單，但要再找光榮退場的時機可就難了，行政部門已經擺明了不會強制驅離，大概也不會再跟他們對話，現在才是大學的學期中，他們如果決定犧牲課業，死守議場抗爭的結果，恐怕終將會發現，他們的訴求根本不可能獲得實現，唯一的成就恐怕只剩下替民進黨未來的選舉，培養幾位新生代的候選人而已！畢竟，除了王金平之外，他們才是這場抗爭中最大的獲利者。

當然，我們還是不得不說，經歷過這場學生占據國會議場的風暴，我們其實都上了一課，現今的台灣，除了統獨、藍綠、南北與階級的矛盾衝突外，還存在著世代的問題，這次群聚在國會議場的年輕學子，預示了台灣九○後的世代，已經正式登場發聲，他們是手不離手機「滑世代」，而這些年景氣不好，年輕人就業難、起薪低、民生物價高漲，房價更是可怕，更成為茫然焦慮的「悶世代」，他們對《服貿協議》的理解，絕大部分來自網路上的懶人包，他們聚集在立院，絕大部分來自社群媒體的動員。與他們對話，忽略了這些層面，當然不可能對上焦。很遺憾的是，目前的執政團隊很少願意在這方面投注心力，甚至還在拿舊世代的語言與溝通模式在應付，這也就難怪會一路弄得這般灰頭土臉。

對於堅守在立院現場的學子們，在享受完占國會、嗆閣揆乃至罵總統的快意後，也不妨沉澱下來，冷靜的研究一下《服貿協議》到底是怎麼回事，別再把懶人包中的論述當真理，在邁入社會轉化為成熟公民之前，淬鍊自己的理性與判斷能力，才是讓這段經歷有助自己成長轉大人的關鍵。