Week 1-cross-strait service agreement/pact, sunflower (student) movement

Taiwan’s Sunflower Protest: Digital Anatomy of a Movement    by Tracey Cheng

On March 18th, 2014, hundreds of students occupied the “Legislative Yuan”, Taiwan’s parliament, to protest against the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA). A network of tech-savvy volunteers immediately began to use digital tools to broadcast their message to sympathizers and the public. Soon, thousands of citizens rallied on the streets outside the parliament to support the students inside. This movement became known as the “Sunflower Movement.”

In the eyes of many students, CSSTA had been hastily signed between the respective governments of Taiwan and China without fully informing the Taiwanese public of what it entails. Taiwan’s government asserted that the agreement would boost Taiwan’s faltering economy, but students thought it would result in Taiwan becoming too dependent on China at the expense of Taiwan’s relations with other allies, and thus become vulnerable to political pressure from Beijing.

Students occupying the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament.

On March 23rd, protesters broke into the Executive Yuan building, the seat of Taiwan’s executive branch. Riot police evicted them by force. A national uproar ensued and resentment toward the government reached another level, partly fueled by the global support for the Sunflower Movement’s nonviolent protests. On March 30th, just 12 days into the movement, students organized a demonstration that saw more than 500,000 Taiwanese citizens taking to the streets in support of their cause.

The government could not withstand the pressure. In a speech, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-Pyng accepted the demands of the protestors. The movement officially concluded on April 10th when the students who had been occupying the parliament left the premises.

The Sunflower Movement became one of the biggest political movements in the past 30 years of Taiwan history. It awoke a younger generation’s awareness about politics, democracy and the identity of Taiwan as a country.

However, what most stood out about this movement was its clever use of technology and digital media. Enabled by the fast collaboration of a self-organized group of volunteers, the movement took flight in ways never seen before and immediately garnered the attention of Taiwanese citizens worldwide in record time.

http://flipthemedia.com/2014/07/social-media-taiwan

Structure of the Lead：

   WHO-Students in Taiwan

    WHEN-March,18th,2014

    WHAT-Sunflower Movement

   WHY-To protest against the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement

   WHERE-Taiwan

    HOW-Hundred of students occupied the "Legislative Yuan"

Keywords：

         parliament:國會

            sympathizers 同情者

            asserted 斷言

            legislative 立法
            garner 穀倉