it it legal for us foreigners to stick our noses in Taiwan politics? or will that get us deported?(or refused entry) I mean actively take part in political protests, campaigning, putting up flyer, etc, etc, etc…
without naming names, there are quite a few foreigner students who are participating in the student occupation of the LY… they are all sitting outside.
a couple of year ago, some Japanese anti-nuclear activists were refused entry at the airport and sent back to Japan. the official reason(not that they are required to give one in the first place) was the foreigners are NOT allowed to engage in anything political in Taiwan. this included citizens of the PRCs who are technically in a separate category.(not really officially “foreign”)
Its likely if you dont stir up a mess or give speeches, they will probably leave you alone.
Being a LIbra I tend to think of both sides of the coin. In a way , anyone legally in Taiwan should be allowed to participate in civil events such as protests. But on the other hand, it would create an international incident if foreign students were hurt or worse, killed in any protest action.
some of them sure don’t mind being interview during the protests on live Taiwanese TV! I suspect most are either too naive about Taiwanese politics/laws to care… or just went along for the party by their Taiwanese classmates and friends.
It’s not that black and white. Linda was a victim of political persecution back in the days where having the wrong opinion could get you disappeared or “reeducated.”
Today, the rules are more lax, but also very bendy… not always in the good way.
However, the Judicial Reform Foundation notes that the exemption isn’t always upheld. A German national and Japanese nationals have been deported for marching against nuclear power.
In my own personal experience, there is some really dark stuff. I went to a very small scale protest at Taipei 101 two or three years ago to do a news report and was approached by a lady who wouldn’t tell me where she works, only identifying her employer as “a government agency.” She said – only after I showed her my name card and before I was particularly suspicious – that she was there to see if any foreigners were illegally taking part in the demonstration. That’s a really disturbing thing.
Technically, if you have an ARC of any kind you shouldn’t be able to be given the boot just for participating in a peaceful, lawful protest. But also technically, that means that anyone participating in the gay pride parade, for example, who is here on a visitor visa could be kicked out.
Given the haphazard way in which the law is interpreted and applied by the various powers that be, I would avoid taking active part even with an ARC. I’ll visit and observe and photograph, but I would not join in the protests, and I most certainly wouldn’t step up to a mike and speak, much less speak, be photographed, and plaster my photograph all over Facebook. I have an APRC, so theoretically I should be OK, but I would not risk it.
She was probably just a female version of Super Hans. You don’t have to engage with “government agents” who don’t identify themselves.
But I agree with Chris. The laws of the R of C are vague, and can be interpreted any which way the judge feels on any given day. Even in ‘civilised’ countries, protesters can often find themselves being persecuted. Unless you think the issue is important enough to take the consequences (personally, I think a trade pact is not in “I hold in my hand a piece of paper…” territory), best to just keep your nose clean.
FurTrader, this shows you have not been here that long. Law here is a grey area. It depends. And that is the most honest answer you’ll ever find.
And the protests are not complete until some drunk furriner manifests his love for Taiwan all over the airwaves… that is the equivalent of the fat lady sings… the sevillanas… the bell.
I truly believe in old fashioned Chinese values here. Good Chinese don’t go into politics…been too uncertain for centuries…they work hard, they multiply, they make money to the best of their ability, and they keep their opinions below the radar.
Foreigners that come over to Taiwan, marry and have a local stake, and chat about it on websites? No problem. Even attending the occasional well-mannered rally? No problem. Fully within their rights.
Foreigners that have their own blogs, support one party with religious fervor, take part in the rallies and applaud “storming of buildings”, actually get depressed if an election doesn’t go their way, and/or get nasty with those who don’t share their same narrow nationalism? And who often don’t have the curiosity or ability to understand opposite opinions?
I wish James Soong still had the power to deport those types!
You give them too much credit, they are completely sober. I always think of this clip when these brainwashed types are spewing their lopsided rhetoric.
Many foreigners were involved in the protests against the hotel on Sanyuan Beach here in Taidong, without any police interference that I know of (I could be wrong,if anyone involved cares to correct me).
Years ago there were protests against the plan to dump nuclear waste in Dawu, Taidong, and foreigners on ARCs were warned against joining- this was in the days of the Foreign Affairs Police. The local FAP office told me- without my asking- that, being on a JFRV and having minor children, I was allowed to attend the protest as an agent on my children’s behalf, as it was an environmental rally affecting their future and not “political”. Which sounded at the time like something they’d pulled out of their ass, but that’s what they said- of course in those days in Taidong half the time I’d have to lead them through their own procedures, so…
I get the impression that The Law is whatever local officialdom says is The Law. AFAIK the legal instruments haven’t changed for decades, but the behaviour of officialdom varies markedly from year to year.
I suspect most are either too naive about Taiwanese politics/laws to care… or just went along for the party by their Taiwanese classmates and friends.
