TAIPEI, Jan 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Taiwanese tax reform campaign whose
activists dress in yellow ramped up its protests Tuesday, interrupting a New
Year flag-raising ceremony attended by the president, partially inspired by
the recent success of France’s “yellow vests”.
France has been severely rattled by six weeks of often violent
demonstrations from “gilets jaunes” protesters, named after the high-
visibility vests supporters have adopted.
The movement forced French President Emmanuel Macron to jettison his
controversial fuel tax hike and announce 10 billion euros in aid for the low-
paid to try to tame the revolt. Taiwan’s yellow shirt movement — where
campaigners also wear hi-visibility vests — pre-dates the French campaign by
three years.
But demonstrators have taken a cue from the recent protests in France,
increasing the frequency of their rallies and taking a more confrontational
approach.
On Tuesday around one hundred demonstrators sneaked into the New Year’s
Day flag raising ceremony in front of the presidential palace attended by
President Tsai Ing-wen.
Once the flag had been raised they removed their jackets to unveil their
yellow vests and banners and began shouting slogans, prompting brief scuffles
with security officials.
“President Macron responded positively to the yellow vest movement in
France and initiated reforms,” said Jacklyn Chang, a young university student
at the protest, told AFP.
“We also hope President Tsai can hear our appeals, I know she can hear
us,” she added.
– Religious origins –
Although the Taiwanese protesters are increasingly citing the movement in
France as something to emulate there are some major differences between the
two groups.
France’s yellow vests are a leaderless grassroots collective, largely
organised through social media, with a varied list of demands and deep
differences within the movement over strategy. More extreme elements have
used violence.
Taiwan’s yellow shirts have remained peaceful and have a clear leadership
structure.
They also stem from a dispute between tax authorities and Tai Ji Men, a
religious organisation whose leader was arrested and prosecuted for fraud and
tax evasion in 1996.
Although the courts have thrown out the fraud charges, Tai Ji Men is still
accused of owing the government millions of dollars in back taxes.
Their first mass rally in 2016 centred around calling for a reprieve of
those tax evasion fines.
More recent demonstrations, including a rally of some 20,000 supporters in
Taipei on 19 December, have called for more general tax reforms, especially
for poorer households.
But the movement still accuses Taiwan’s authorities of “persecuting”
religious and political groups with tax probes.
“Our main goal is for the tax bureau to stop bullying people using tax
violation charges,” Chen Tze-lung, a retired professor and one of the
founders of the movement said.
It is not yet clear whether Taiwan’s yellow shirts will see broader
success. While they have mustered large rallies their demands have received
little political support, even from the opposition and the Tsai
administration has so far avoided any major confrontations with the group.
Nonetheless Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party received a bloody
nose in local polls in November and they face a presidential election in
2020.