Sunflower Student Movement - Research Paper Example

Sunflower Movement s Introduction In human history, people have expressed their grievances via social movements. Movements are crowds sourcing for certain rights in the society. In the past two centuries, movements have become part of the popular expression of opposition. The movements are usually large groups of people with a focus on a certain social, economic, or political issue (Jasper, 2014). This means that they either agree with or resist social change. Movements have flourished under democratized countries. Sociology theories on social movements have all come to a conclusion that social movements address matters such as economic well being, educational rights, and political issues. The advent of the Internet has played a significant role in the growth and expansion of social movements. The modern movements often make use of technology as well as the Internet to mobilize people on a global scale (Goodwin & Japser, 2009). The modern social movements have become possible by means of education. As a result, numerous social movements have been created at universities. Therefore, drawing on a variety of sources the paper will discuss the Sunflower student movement. Discussion With the ever increasing economic integration, the Republic of China and Taiwan saw the opportunity to enter into a trade agreement. As a result, the cross-strait service trade agreement (CSSTA) was signed between the Beijing and Taiwanese government. In the deal, 80 service product lines were open for Taiwan companies in China, while 60 Taiwan service product lines were open for Chinese investment. The other economic sectors that would be opened up include tourism, banking sector, consumer services, telecommunications, printing and publishing, construction, and hospitality industries (Rowen, 2015). The labor and human rights organizations, cultural figures, economists, and small entrepreneurs opposed the agreement arguing that it will harm the interests of the workers and prevent the growth and development of Taiwan-owned small and medium enterprises, in addition to throwing the democratic freedom of the Taiwanese citizens out of proportion. Likewise, the agreement also did not go well with students and the Sunflower Student Movement sprung up in protest. These opponents of the pact claim that the Ma administration did not carry out a detailed evaluation or hold any substantive consultations with the labor unions, various industry associations, or legislators earlier before signing the agreement (Heo & Cho, 2012). As cited by Jasper (2014), most of the current social movements are formed in the Universities. The Sunflower Student Movement is one such example. The main leaders of the Sunflower Student Movement are Lin Fei-fan and Chen Wei-ting (Duchâtel, 2014). These student leaders publicly announced their disagreement with the CSSTA and called for mass protests by mobilizing the students (Rowen, 2015). More than 10,000 students joined the protests in non-violent sit-ins. The protest peaked to 500,000 people making it the largest protest that was led by students in the history of Taiwan (Wright, 2014). Duchâtel (2014) found out that the Sunflower Movement that erupted on March 18th 2014 was also a political struggle President Ma Ying-jeou and Wang Jin-pyng, which was an ultimate outbreak of build up political conflicts in Taiwan. As of March 19, 2014, Cabestan and DeLisle (2014) note that more than 10,000 had students had occupied the Legislative Yuan opposing the CSSTA. The student protester claimed that the agreement raised concerns on national security and also posed major risks to the economy of Taiwan. In other words, the Sunflower Student Movement was worried that China will gain a greater economic and political influence on Taiwan, if the CSSTA was signed. They claimed that the pact would make way for unfair competition between huge Chinese-state owned businesses and smaller Taiwanese civilian-owned enterprises. Moreover, the CSSTA would lead to inequitable competition, whereby only certain people would benefit, does not show the comparative advantages of the service providers, and also does not address the marginalized groups. The livelihoods of about 2.85 million would also be affected by the pact. The lower-skilled people are at risk and there would also be stagnation in entry level wages (Fan, 2014). The students argued that the CSSTA lacked the protections given to other trade agreements that had been done under the World Trade Organization framework, and this one was not. Secondly, they also claimed that there exists a major difference between the economic sectors in China and Taiwan hat are outlined by the CSSTA to the extent that it is more probable to impact negatively on the vulnerable sectors of Taiwan’s economy. Lastly, the efforts of Taiwan to join trade agreements lack transparency (Wright, 2014). The movement argued that the CSSTA was rushed through by the Taiwan parliament without reviewing the agreement’s articles. The protests were aimed at forcing the government to be responsive as well as transparent to the interests of the people. Correspondingly, the opposition legislators in the Taiwanese parliament, especially those from the Democratic Progressive party condemned the government saying that it only released information about the agreement that was considered favourable (Rowen, 2015). Earlier in 2012, the Sunflower Student Movement had been engaged in various protests that touched on the environment, social justice, and anti-media monopoly (Duchâtel, 2014). Wright (2014) notes that it is likely that those individuals in Taiwan who support Ma and his government as well as the CSSTA will continue to view the Sunflower Movement as a civil disturbance initiated by the left-wing academic dialogues aimed at starting trouble amongst spoiled university students. The movement emphasizes that the Taiwanese electorate is not willing to exchange their political birthright for economic development. Studies have evidenced that modern social movements are using modern technologies to air their views and organize their activities (Tolbert & McNeal, 2013). The Sunflower Student Movement took full advantage of the social networking sites. They planned most of their actions via Facebook, Twitter, and Line groups. Their heavy presence on social media also enabled the movement to gain international recognition. The Sunflower Student Movement accused the Ma administration of not being committed to review the pact item-by-item and approved the agreement in secrecy. Taipei (2014) observes that the movement was of the opinion that the agreement was actually negotiated in secret, and it will allow China to gain more political control over the island. During the protests, they demanded that a law be formed that will permit for public for oversight of state agreements such as the cross-strait free trade agreement. They came to an agreement that the CSSTA be submitted for review by a legislative committee. Rowen (2015) shares the view that the Sunflower Student Movement may have been the turning point in the cross-strait relations. It brought to international attention some of the core issues that face Taiwan due to cross-strait economic integration along with its effect on the Taiwanese society, economic organization, and functioning of the Taiwan democratic system. When the Premier Jian Yi-huah met with the protesters on March 21, 2014, he said that the government had no intention of dropping the trade agreement. The government which is the advocate of treaty argued that pulling out of the agreement and not approving would damage the international credibility of Taiwan. However, they tried to find solutions for the problem. Negotiation and consultation are crucial to the mainland’s idea of solving the Taiwan’s issue. Negotiation and consultation would have peacefully resolved instead of using force, which led to injury to some of the protesters. In addition, negotiations and consultations would not only preserve the way of life and economic system of Taiwan, but also promote peace and stability on both sides of the straits. Institutionalization can also promoted in order to resolve the Taiwan issue. Equally important, the mainland has adequate patience for all levels of negotiations together with consultations with Taiwan. These exchanges are very significant in the creation of mutual trust, enhancement of communication, and development of cross-strait peace mechanisms (Songling, 2014). The visit by Zhang Zhijun promotes such aims (Han, 2014). As the protests continued, President Ma invited the leaders of the Sunflower Movement to his office for dialogue over the CSSTA without preconditions. However, the leaders of the protest did not heed to Ma’s invitation (Wright, 2014). The Ma administration had acknowledged the legitimacy problems that were surrounding the pact and proposed changes which were aimed at strengthening the legislative authority. The government responded partially to the demands of the students of having an oversight law. As a result, a bill for monitoring such agreements was approved. However, President Ma’s administration is aimed at meeting the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping so as to ratify the deal (Cabestan & DeLisle, 2014). The Taiwan government was aimed at embracing face-to-face communication that would be helpful in improving the support together with the approval of the government’s mainland’s policy for the regional economic integration (Rosen & Wang, 2011). The government also aims to embrace the timely adjustment of laws and measures to be equivalent in all areas of the CSSTA, and engage in institutionalized cross-strait regulations in order to effectively provide solutions from the problems emanating from the cross-strait connections (Duchâtel, 2014). As for the business groups, they argue that CSSTA only favors the large business owners. Large business owners of firms like Lion Travel Service welcome the free trade since the business would be opened for more opportunities (Sui, 2013). This is because only the huge businesses have the ability to expand their operations and set up offices together with branches in either territory. Therefore, the small and medium enterprise owners have proposed amendments to the CSSTA to offer protection of small businesses from foreign influence. The non-profit organizations also play role in resolving the pact dispute. Private entities from both governments can negotiate on the operational as well as technical aspects of the issue between China and Taiwan (Cabestan & DeLisle, 2014). Equally important, the non-profit organizations have laid the foundation of communication as witnessed during the 1993 meeting between China’s Wang Daohan and Taiwan’s Koo Chen-fu who were head non-governmental organization. They reached an agreement during Taipei’s Straits Exchange Foundation and Beijing’s Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait breaking the political deadlock. As a result, it laid the ground for communication (Han, 2014). In the same way, the non-profit entities are trying to create stable platforms for the cross-strain negotiations between the disputing parties. The non-profit organizations cite the value of cross-strait communication for mutual understanding in order to avoid future political challenges. The non-profit organizations are raising awareness on the impacts of the pact between China and Taiwan highlighting its advantages and disadvantages (Hu, 2014). Most non-profit organization, which support grassroots entrepreneurs argue that the agreement would make the Taiwanese society to be too dependent to China. Therefore, they advanced knowledge as well as dialogue in relation to the manner in which Taiwan’s trade policy can best safeguard the capacity of the non-profit sector to continue serving and supporting the Taiwanese people (Rowen, 2015). In order to resolve the dispute of the cross-strait service trade agreement, Dr. Ping-Kuan Kevin Lo was appointed the chief consultant for the pact. Being the chief executive officer of the Washington Window International Consultants, his firm served as a link between enterprises and the Taiwan government. He facilitated the communication of major state policies to both the legislature as well as the general public. Conclusion In summary, the Sunflower student movement is against the signing of the cross-strait service trade agreement between the Republic of China and Taiwan. The movement shares the view that the agreement raises concerns on national security and also poses major risks to the economy of Taiwan. The opponents of the agreement believed that the CSSTA would only favor the large Chinese state-owned corporations at the expense of the small and medium sized businesses owned by the Taiwanese people. Therefore, the protester pointed out that the imbalanced liberalizations to China only benefits China and impacts negatively on the Taiwan society, culture, and national security. The opponents of the agreement also tabled the view that the there was lack of transparency during the negations. They posit that the negotiations were conducted in secret, thus keeping the public in darkness. To resolve the issues, the government responded in part to the students’ demands and came up with a bill that would allow public oversight of the agreement. In the same perspective, the business community called for consultations and negotiations in an effort to resolve the dispute. The human rights organizations combined other non-profit organizations laid the foundation for communication for the conflicting parties. They also created awareness to the Taiwan citizens on the benefits and disbenefis of the CSSTA. Besides that, individuals such as Dr. Ping-Kuan Kevin Lo who was appointed the chief consultant for the pact acted as a link between the small and medium enterprises and the Taiwan government. It can be seen how citizen pressure can impact change in a country for a course of action. The Sunflower Student Movement is a student population that is informed, engaged, and active. The younger generation put aside their differences and defended Taiwan’s democratic future. 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