Local journalist and activist Brian Hioe discusses Taiwan's turbulent politics as protests against controversial legislative reforms enter a third week.
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00:00 So you've been quite vocal about these reforms. Could you tell us what the objections are?
00:05 So there are two levels. One is the means by which they were passed, in that this is seen as
00:10 violating the norms of transparency the legislature should adhere to. So the phrasing is often
00:14 black box, that there's not a clear review process for experts to weigh in and it was just rushed
00:20 through. There's also discourse then that the DPP, whilst a minority, doesn't mean that its rights
00:25 should be trampled over entirely because it's not such a large majority that the KMT and TPP have
00:30 over it, but also then one needs to take into account opposing views. And then apart from that
00:35 is the question of the bills themselves, that they are seen as allowing for productorial powers that
00:41 then legislators could weaponize, to use to target individuals they politically don't like, or even
00:46 to target, for example, companies and force them to reveal their trade secrets and their number of
00:52 legislators that they themselves have business interests. And so it's feared this be used for
00:55 corruption. The main opposition parties are saying that these reforms will bring greater
00:59 checks and balances for Taiwan's legislature. So aren't they a good thing? I think the way it's
01:05 framed in this way, it's packaged then as providing oversight to allow for greater checks and balances.
01:10 But the criticism is that this in fact gives the legislature the power that is currently reserved
01:15 for the executive branch of government. And in some way, this seems to be accommodation to the
01:19 fact that the KMT is having difficulty winning presidential elections. And so instead of trying
01:23 to craft a compelling political platform to win the next election, you seek to arrogate some of
01:29 the powers currently for the executive to legislative branch of government. And in this way,
01:33 then the question is, would this also interfere with judiciary powers? Because if then legislators
01:38 have prosecutorial powers, then that seems to blur the lines between the different branches
01:42 of government. It's highly likely that all of these measures will go through as the main opposition
01:47 parties do have a majority in the legislature. You've been at the protests. Where do you see
01:52 this protest movement going if the bills do go through? So that's a very good question,
01:57 because the DPP could seek a constitutional interpretation. The executive branch could
02:01 raise issues with the bill, and then that might lead to some further space for discussion or
02:06 rather mobilizing protests against the bill from the perspective of civil society groups.
02:11 There's possibly that Lai as president could veto the bill, but there's not really a veto
02:15 power in Taiwan's politics. He could do that, but then just goes back to the legislature within
02:19 about two weeks. And so it is a question of what happens. And if the KMT presses through,
02:23 then this amplifies anger regarding them. It's unknown if civil society groups will try to
02:27 escalate after that, because the focus now is on not escalating, that this is peaceful,
02:32 and that process should be adhered to. And civil society groups have maintained that rhetoric so
02:37 far. But it's a scene to be seen if people are angry enough to take actions or take matters into
02:43 their own hands, such as occurred with Sun Farment 10 years ago. And I think that's one of the bigger
02:46 questions with the protests, because they have grown to such a size that has not been seen in
02:50 10 years. But would there be an attempt to, for example, carry out a form of direct action? And
02:54 the organizers have emphasized that there's no plans like that currently, but who knows what
02:58 would happen in the future.
02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]