Sunflower movement impact
Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the Sunflower movement. Students bravely protesting against the “black box” process of the cross-strait service trade agreement have left a permanent imprint on Taiwan’s political scene.
It is regrettable that after 10 years, those passionate students and their contribution have been appropriated for other uses. Some people with questionable intent even frame them as a political party’s instrument, claiming that the Sunflower movement was not necessarily a “pure” students’ movement, but merely a political farce. These commentaries are all over the Internet. If so, why would the public admire the Sunflower students and the changes that they brought to Taiwan?
In 2014, a month after the protests, students issued four demands: No action on the service trade pact, legalization of a mechanism for monitoring cross-strait agreements, a pledge by all legislators to work on the new legislation and a civic conference on constitutional government.
Based on the draft cross-strait agreement supervisory act, the Legislative Yuan amended the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
“The destruction or change of the nation’s sovereign status or the free and democratic constitutional order shall not be the subject of a negotiation or an agreement involving political issues,” Article 5.3 states. Additionally, any negotiation on political issues should be considered equivalent to a constitutional amendment and reported to the Legislative Yuan for evaluation.
In other words, political issues, economic issues and cross-strait affairs are all subject to the act. This is the contribution made by the Sunflower movement. Any negotiation with China would only take place according to Taiwan’s own principles.
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator-at-large Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) once said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was the real traitor of the Sunflower movement.
I would like to ask Huang — who was a participant of the movement — if he has already forgotten the four demands.
Huang was an advocate of enacting a mechanism for monitoring cross-strait agreements, but today, he is a member of the TPP, a political party whose relationship with China should be questioned and monitored.
Who indeed is the traitor of the Sunflower movement? It is more than clear who has failed to remember the four demands and the principles of the movement.
The greatest value of the Sunflower movement was that it showed the younger generation’s passion for political affairs.
The movement demonstrated that Taiwan’s young people care about the future of this land.
They shaped their political ideals and visions and are more than willing to put their beliefs into practice. They displayed their courage and are not afraid of being examined by the public.
This is the ideal born from the Sunflower movement.
Today, the voice of the younger generation could be heard by many and their thoughts are valued more.
The Sunflower movement has allowed Taiwanese to engage with politics in a more meaningful way. Political debates are not pointless anymore. Younger generations are empowered to not only understand, but to also participate in political issues.
Thanks to the movement, the public started to pay attention to the younger generation’s viewpoints. Political participation is no longer a contest exclusive to adults.
As long as we care for this land and Taiwan’s future, all of us could become a sunflower, always looking toward the bright side, and the future would be brighter than ever.
Wang Chia-yin
Taipei
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