Protesters surround Taiwan parliament

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[8]Some 30,000 [9]Taiwanese demonstrators surrounded [10] the Legislative Yuan, the island's parliament, one day after Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party [11] (DPP) was sworn in [12] as president. They were protesting [13] against the legislative majority's attempts to enact new laws [14] they say would unconstitutionally limit the power of the executive. Three days before the inauguration, physical conflict [15] broke out among lawmakers on floor of the Legislative Yuan, with five briefly hospitalized. The DPP, while winning the presidency, failed [16] to maintain a legislative majority in the January election, leaving the opposition Kuomintang [17] to form a majority coalition. The Kuomintang favors closer ties with China, while the DPP upholds Taiwan's de facto independence. Beijing responded to Lai's inauguration with menacing naval maneuvers, completely surrounding Taiwan with warships. The protest at the Legislative Yuan evokes memories of the 2014 Sunflower Movement [18], when activists occupied the parliament chamber for 24 days to oppose a free trade agreement with China being pushed by the then-Kuomintang government. (Photo: Kanshui0943 via WikimediaCommons [19])

Taiwan_parliament.jpg [20]

Some 30,000 [9]Taiwanese demonstrators surrounded [10] the Legislative Yuan, the island's parliament, on May 21, one day after Lai Ching-te (William Lai) of the Democratic Progressive Party [11] (DPP) was sworn in [12] as president. They were protesting [13] against the legislative majority's attempts to enact new laws [14] they say would unconstitutionally limit the power of the executive. Three days before the inauguration, physical conflict [15] broke out among lawmakers on floor of the Legislative Yuan, with five briefly hospitalized. At the center of the controversy is a measure to create the new criminal offense of "contempt of the legislature," imposing penalties even on the president for failure to cooperate with Yuan investigations.

The DPP, while winning the presidency, failed [16] to maintain a legislative majority in the January election. Opposing parties, the Kuomintang [17] and the Taiwan People's Party [21] formed a majority coalition in the legislature. The Kuomintang favors closer ties with China, while the DPP upholds Taiwan's de facto independence. The protest at the Legislative Yuan evokes memories of the 2014 Sunflower Movement [18], when activists occupied the parliament chamber for 24 days to oppose a free trade agreement with China being pushed by the then-Kuomintang government. (Jurist [22], Jurist [23])

All this comes as Beijing has launched major new military exercises, clearly simulating preparations for an invasion of Taiwan. China surrounded Taiwan with navy vessels and aircraft on May 23 as part of the two-day military procedures, according to state media [24]. Beijing stated [25] that the military action is a warning against any moves toward formal Taiwan independence.

A representative for the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army said that the drills, code-named Joint Sword-2024A, center on "sea-air combat-readiness" and precision strikes on strategic targets. (Jurist [26])

China's Ministry of Commerce on May 20 announced sanctions [27] against three US defense companies for selling arms to Taiwan, placing the companies on the "unreliable entities list." According to a statement published by China's State Council Information Office [28], the sanctioned companies are General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. (Jurist [29])