Settle Down and Confront Taiwan's Collective Challenge

Settle Down and Confront Taiwan's Collective Challenge
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
April 3, 2014

Summary: President Ma has responded forthrightly in a number of ways to the student protestors' demands. But the student protestors refuse to acknowledge his efforts. They cling to their hardline "Withdraw the CSSTA! All else is irrelevant" stance. We call on the Ma administration to be patient. Better to settle down and allow society to absorb the shock and resolve the problem.

Full text below:

President Ma has responded forthrightly in a number of ways to the student protestors' demands. But the student protestors refuse to acknowledge his efforts. They cling to their hardline "Withdraw the CSSTA! All else is irrelevant" stance. Agitiation by White Wolf merely hardened the stance of the masses occupying the Legislative Yuan, and intensified the confrontation. We are deeply concerned. If the Ma administration feels compelled to resort to forced evictions, the consequences may be unpredictable. Society on Taiwan may be irreparably split. We call on the Ma administration to be patient. Better to settle down and allow society to absorb the shock and resolve the problem.

It is clear how we got here. The large scale protest march on Sunday gave the student movement a shot in the arm. The government beat a hasty retreat. Most pundits sided with the student movement. Their victories have eclipsed the DPP's eight to nine month long "fillibuster." Quitting while one is ahead may be the rational choice. But the student movement was an irrestible force that conquered everything in its path. They forced the ruling party to retreat, again and again. So what motivation do the students have to retreat? Besides, for many universities, this week is spring break. Students aren't even subject to academic pressures. The student movement already has the advantage. It is free of time pressure. The Ma government may be anxious, but the student movement is not. It has done the math. The longer it can delay implementation of the CSSTA, the greater its victory.

The key lies with the Ma administration, in particular President Ma himself. How exactly will he judge the seriousness of the situation?  

Recall the past two weeks. But let us be fair. President Ma forcibly evicted the masses occupying the Executive Yuan. But otherwise he has kept a low profile. He held several press conferences. But each time he adopted a moderate tone. He never once engaged in provocation. He responded to student movement demands in good faith, but clearly to no effect. Instead his responses have merely provided Netizens with more fodder by which to humiliate and ridicule him. As matters stand, even if President Ma were to withdraw the CSSTA, the student movement would probably still refuse to disband. They might even use the opportunity to demand that President Ma step down.

Therefore we suggest that President Ma not be in a hurry to resolve the situation during the current legislative session. He might as as well slow the process down. Let the passage of time provide a solution. Let Taiwan society provide a solution. After all, Taiwan society is stable. Its roots run deep. The dispute will be resolved eventually. We hope future history remembers the CSSTA dispute as a legislative dispute, rather than a bloody clash between police and students. Such wounds are difficult to heal.

We understand the Ma administration's time pressures regarding CSSTA legislation. If the legislation is not passed during this session, TPP and FTA negotiations cannot begin. Taiwan will probably be further marginalized in regional and even global economic competition. President Ma has mentioned this several times in his public statements. Many industry elders, even ECB President Perng Hui-nan, have come forward to emphasize this point. Obviously to no effect. The students and masses inside and outside the Legislative Yuan continue to come and go. They have made clear they are preparing for long term occupation.

As matters stand, the Ma administration and President Ma himself must realize that Taiwan may have to undergo this process as part of its historical evolution. It may be unavoidable pain. The CSSTA itself is not that complicated. But it reflects a multitude of contradictions within Taiwan society. These include of course Blue vs. Green conflictd, reunification vs. independence conflict, and of course class conflict. These economic and social conflicts have simmered for some time. These contradictions and tensions have accumulated for some time. They merely chose the CSSTA to erupt. The Ma administration must not perceive the conflict as purely Blue vs. Green political conflict, and ignore other, more profound social psychological factors. It must not adopt the wrong measures. Otherwise it will pay too high a price.

President Ma must take note of some simple facts.

One. The DPP by itself could not have mobilized so many students. During the current wave of protests, the DPP was actually reduced to a supporting role. It was marginalized. Two. The younger generation protestors inside and outside the legislature have already reached a consensus. Their anger and frustration have long been ignored. They have their own language and mobilization techniques. Unless they decide they no longer wish to play, no one can talk them down. This includes the DPP and Wang Jin-pyng. Three. President Ma's rational persuasion can convince only those who would not have protested in the first place. For those students holding sit-ins inside and outside the legislature, such attempts at persuasion are akin to "mosquito bites on a bull's horn."

Therefore instead of feeling anxious, it would be better to slow things down. At this point, any radical political or legal measures would only provide the protestors the illusion of greater legitimacy. Better to settle down and let Taiwan society heal this wound.

社論－沉澱下來 面對台灣共業
稍後再讀
中國時報 本報訊 2014年04月03日 04:09

儘管馬總統已透過種種不同形式，正面回應了學運團體的多項訴求，但學運團體並不領情，展現「退回服貿、其他免談」的強硬態度。霸占立院議場內外的群眾，也因為白狼糾眾挑釁的激盪，而有愈見激化對立的趨勢，情勢發展到這個局面，我們真的很擔心，如果馬政府迫於無奈展開強力驅離，那將產生更不可預期的後果，屆時將造成台灣社會無可挽回的撕裂，我們呼籲馬政府千萬別躁進，不如沉澱下來，讓社會力吸納、解決這種種問題吧！

情勢的發展已經很清楚，在周日大規模的遊行之後，宛如給抗爭的學運團體打了一針興奮劑，再加上馬政府一路撤退，絕大部分輿論又都站在學運團體這一邊，他們的戰果，早已超過民進黨8、9個月來抵制的成效，儘管「見好就收」是個合理的選擇，但回顧先前的一路攻城掠地、勢如破竹，硬是讓執政黨節節敗退，試問此時此刻，學生們有什麼道理要撤退？更何況不少大學本周恰巧放春假，學生們連罷課的壓力都沒有！所以結論是，學運團體已經占據空間優勢，又沒有時間壓力，馬政府就算再焦急，學運團體可一點都不急，因為他們已經算準了，服貿的立法進程拖得越久，他們就贏得越多。

因而關鍵還是在於，馬政府，特別是馬總統本人，究竟怎麼評估這個嚴峻的情勢！

回顧這一兩周，除了強力驅離群眾攻占政院的行動外，我們必須公平的說，馬總統的姿態一直放得很低，記者會已經開了好幾次，都採取柔性說服的語氣，不見任何挑釁；在回應學運團體訴求上，能回應的都給予善意回應了，但很顯然功效都不大，反而提供網路鄉民更多羞辱揶揄的素材。估計照目前情勢演變，就算馬總統願意退回《服貿協議》，學運團體可能照樣不撤，說不定還進一步發動罷免，要馬總統下台了！

也因為這樣，我們建議馬總統，與其急著非要在本會期解決，不如乾脆放慢腳步，讓時間去解快，讓台灣社會去解決吧！畢竟台灣社會穩定、基礎深厚，爭議終究是會解決的，我們盼望的是，未來台灣歷史記載著是《服貿協議》立法發生重大爭議，而不是記載著警察與學運團體發生血腥衝突！要知道那種傷痕是很難彌補的！

我們當然理解，馬政府對《服貿協議》的立法有時間壓力，如果沒能在本會期完成立法，後續的TPP、FTA談判完全無法啟動，屆時台灣很可能在區域經濟、乃至在全球經濟競爭中被進一步邊緣化。馬總統已經在多次的公開談話中提到了這一點，許多工商界大老，甚至央行總裁彭淮南也都出面強調這一點，但很顯然收效不大，立院內外的學生與群眾照樣川流不息，甚且已表明了要做長期抗戰的準備。

情勢走到了這一步，馬政府，乃至馬總統本人恐怕都必須接受一個事實，這或許是台灣歷史進程中必須經歷的過程，甚至是一個免不了的陣痛。《服貿協議》本身或許並沒有那麼複雜，但它卻折射出台灣社會內部的諸多矛盾，這中間當然有藍綠、統獨對立的政治因素，但它絕對還有階級、世代張力的經濟與社會因素，這些矛盾與張力其實早已蓄積了許久，只是選擇《服貿協議》立法這個出口爆發而已，馬政府如果只是將它簡單理解為藍綠的政治衝突，卻忽略了其它更深層的社會、心理因素，採取錯誤的對策，恐怕會為此付出不小的代價。

馬總統必須承認幾項簡單的事實：

一、單憑民進黨，是動員不了這麼多學生的，民進黨在這波抗爭中，甚至已淪為邊緣化的配角了；二、議場內外的年輕世代，已經擁有他們集體的主體意識，他們的憤怒與無奈長期以來一直被忽略，此刻他們已擁有自己的語言與動員模式，除非他們自己不想玩了，誰也勸不退他們，包括王金平與民進黨在內；三、馬總統的理性說服，只能說服那些本來就不會去抗爭的民眾，對於那些睡在議場內外的學子而言，說直白一些，宛如蚊子叮牛角。

所以，與其急，不如緩吧！此時採取任何過激的政治或司法手段，只會讓他們的抗爭更有正當性，不如沉澱下來，讓台灣社會去治癒這個撕裂吧，一定可以的！