In 2014, the Sunflower Movement galvanized students and civic groups against a trade pact being negotiated between China and the KMT-led government in Taiwan. They called for an independent public sphere and the formation of new political and social values. In 2016, the DPP again made history when it captured the majority in the Legislative Yuan and its candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, was elected president.ĭuring the democratization period, Taiwanese CSOs and social movements working on environmental, religious, labor, women, indigenous, migrant, consumer, humanitarian relief, and other issues emerged to challenge and resist authoritarianism. A watershed event in the democratization process was the election of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate, Chen Shui-bian, as president in 2000. These international civil society organizations (CSOs) provided a foundation for the wave of civil society organizing that began in the late 1980s and 1990s as Taiwan began to democratize. The earliest independent CSOs were international ones, such as the Red Cross, World Vision, Christian Children’s Fund, Rotary Club, and Lion’s Club, which came into Taiwan in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1949 to 1987, the KMT ruled Taiwan, imposing martial law and strict controls on civil society, denying citizens the right to form independent associations or political parties.ĭuring this period, the KMT formed many of its own party and government-led civic organizations and foundations. Like the CCP, the KMT was a highly centralized Leninist party, which admitted no political competitors. Taiwan was ruled by Japan from 1895 to 1945, and by the Kuomingtang (KMT) party, which lost the civil war to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949 and fled to Taiwan, where it set up the Republic of China (ROC). Mr Assad is expected to make a public address in coming days.The political environment has played an important role in shaping the development of civil society in Taiwan. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says her country has no intention of launching a military intervention in Syria like in Libya, saying the situations are unique. In nearby Daraa, at the Jordanian border, about 300 bare-chested young men climbed on the rubble of a statue of Hafez al-Assad on Saturday, which had been torn down the day before, shouting anti-regime slogans, witnesses said.Īuthorities have accused "armed gangs" and extremist Muslims of pushing peaceful rallies into violence. On Saturday, demonstrators torched the Baath party's local headquarters in the southern town of Tafas. More than 30 people have been officially confirmed killed in a spiral of violence that has gripped Syria since protests broke out on March 15.Īctivists say more than 126 people have died, with upwards of 100 killed on Wednesday alone in a bloody crackdown on protests in Daraa, the southern tribal town that has become the symbol of the dissent. "The official death toll in Latakia is 10 people - citizens and members of the security forces - and two gunmen," Mr Shaaban said. Two of the victims were buried on Sunday. Syrian troops have deployed in Latakia, a religiously diverse port city 350 kilometres north-west of Damascus, where at least 12 people have been killed by gunfire involving snipers since Friday. The US has announced it currently has no intention of intervening in Syria, despite the crackdown on protesters. London-based rights group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights welcomed the decision and said about 2,000 people should be freed from prison should the law be lifted. The law also authorises interrogation of any individual and the surveillance of personal communication, as well as official control of the content of newspapers and other media before publication. The emergency law imposes restrictions on public gatherings and movement and authorises the arrest of "suspects or persons who threaten security". But I do not know about the timeframe," presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban said. "The decision to lift the emergency law has already been made. Now the government has announced it will lift the emergency laws that restrict basic rights and have been in place since 1963, when the repressive Baath regime seized power in a military coup. On Thursday, Mr Assad announced various reforms to appease the protesters, including higher government wages and more freedoms. In the latest protests 12 people were shot dead in the port city of Latakia. President Bashar al-Assad has come under unprecedented pressure in recent days as anti-government protesters hit the streets across the country. The move comes in response to a wave of protests that have left scores of people dead across Syria in recent days. The Syrian government has declared it will lift the emergency laws that were imposed nearly half a century ago when the Baath party seized power.
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