AFAIK, taking part to political protests is not illegal per se, but it can extremely easily be construed as a violation of your visa issuing condition. There is no “political activism visa”, therefore you could be considered acting outside the declared scope of your stay in Taiwan no matter what visa you have (working, student, tourist…).
Chris, you say it’s haphazard, do you know of any foreigner that was deported for attending a political rally who were on an ARC or marriage visa?
This response from foreigners is quite typical i’m afraid: ‘Don’t go to a political rally – you’ll get deported’, and is often used as an excuse for not participating.
That’s a pity, coz it’s not true and just offers an easy out to apathy.
Which, ironically, is one of the most political statements you can make. Massive development companies illegally building environmental travesties, Taipower’s nuclear plants in an extreme seismic hazard zone, or the KMT trying to bulldoze through the trade act - they don’t need your support actually - all they need is for you to do nothing. Even better, encourage other people to ‘keep their noses clean’ as well.
If you live in Taiwan as a long term resident then you have every right to express your opinion. For many foreigners their spouse is Taiwanese and it’s the place where their kids will grow up. And it’s the island where you’ve probably had a pretty good suck on the teat as well. Why wouldn’t you want to have a small say in the future development of a country that you may well love as your home?
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I was at the A-Bien protest not protesting, but chillin’ with a couple of buddies, Taiwan guys. I’d just gotten back from 2 years in the States and some cops came over and asked for ID’s. They said as I was on a 30 visitor visa that I should keep a low profile and not be seen to be doing anything remotely like protesting. That seemed to imply that if I was resident, then I’d be OK but I wouldn’t chance it.
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If you’re on a Visa, that means you’re a guest. As a guest, it is beholden on you to follow your host’s rules. You’re not a citizen, as such, you do not have all the rights of citizenship and should conduct yourself accordingly; for all the authorities know, you’re secretly working for the PRC and inciting foment amongst the masses to disrupt the country. This is true of any country you go to work/study/vacation on. Your Embassy/Consul will tell you the same. If you want the same rights as a citizen, you should apply for citizenship.
Irrelevant claptrap.
I think you are being a bit harsh Dulan. Foreigners may not want to participate as they legitimately worry that doing so would put everything they have at risk including the well veing of kids and spouse. Until this year there was no review of a deportation, no appeal. I was deported in 2000 despite being married. My first application to re-enter after a year was rejected.
I don’t know of anyone deported for attending rallies though many deported for playing music. Also just a couple years back journalist Michael Cole was threatened with deportation for wriing stuff the Ma admin didn’t like.
The lesson is that as long as your voice is irrelevant the authorities won’t bother you. Which makes your protest meaningless. :s
I get your point and have been to many rallies but I don’t blame adults with serious responsibilities from thinking this is an unacceptable risk.
There is definitely some uncertainty about this and it is wise not to actively participate. Just attending a peaceful rally should not be a problem in Taipei. I would tread more cautiously in places like Hualien and Taitung where there have been problems for many years.
Yes, that’s all I was saying. I also know two people who have been deported for violating their work visa terms, one of them in a completely benign way (genuinely unpaid). Attending a rally could be construed as ‘volunteering’, which will get you kicked out if someone is feeling vindictive.
Those interested in the subject might also like to read “From Dictatorship to Democracy”, which examines the mechanics of nonviolent resistance. The author is a bit naive about his subject, but he makes several good points, one of them being that mass rallies offer maximum exposure to risk with relatively little positive impact, compared to the many other methods of resistance available.
So my right to free speech is conditional. I guess that means that if the police take away my camera, I should bow and thank them for letting me own it in first place? What other rights are conditionally extended until the authorities decide it’s time to revoke them? Does the right to live count?
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You have the right to free speech. And the authorities have the right to deport you having linked your action to the violation of a law.
I get it that there are loopholes currently in the law to allow vindictive officials to deport foreigners for participating in protests and rallies, but those loopholes are unconstitutional and illegal themselves.
How convenient it is to legally deport foreign workers if they have a rally demanding better work conditions or demand their rightful payment… The supreme court should trike those loopholes down, as the constitution guarantees “people” to rightfully protest and have freedom of speech.
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You know perfectly well that for the purposes of the constitution, “people” means citizens.
Neither do I, and the reason for that is that it’s not illegal to attend rallies if you hold an ARC.
By whom? When you say ‘threatened’, i assume he wasn’t deported. Again, without knowing the details of the case, i’d guess the reason he wasn’t deported was because he hadn’t done anything illegal. Apparently it’s called ‘free speech’.
No MM, the lesson is (which also ans the OP’s quest): it’s legal to attend rallies. no one with an ARC can be deported just for attending a rally. No. One.
Spoken like a true ‘Do Nothing’.
For a start, it’s just plain wrong. let’s take for example, the 200 000 people that turned up for the first post-Fukushima anti-nuke rally island-wide in 2013. That was a massive political statement that garnered saturation media coverage. Last time I checked that was considered a good thing for a political movement.
Also, it’s naive to imagine that protest rallies happen as isolated events or are run by isolated organizations that are formed for the sole purpose of having a rally. They are one part of a plethora of methods that activist engage in along with legal challenges, social media, press conferences, group networking, producing products to sell for fundraising, and boycotts, and a bunch of other stuff.
But the protest rally will always be important because that’s the one that brings a community together. It’s a symbolic act.
And if it’s done well, it gets the headlines and germinates within the public consciousness. Finley, can you do me a favour? Put on your darkest sunglasses and a broad hat and fake moustache one day and go along to a protest – even standing right at the back there, I am sure you will feel the power of it and come to a different conclusion.
MM, it’s exactly those people who should be participating and I don’t know why so many people are trying to scare them off. They are the ones who have a stake in Taiwan’s future and it’s perfectly legal for them to participate providing they have an ARC. And you are probably a great example of someone who is actively out there with a conscience who does do something about it by expressing it in published writing. All in plain irrevocable sight. And you’re still here. I admire that.
No, there’s not, actually, and no it’s not. and if anyone is reading this and wants to support a cause but is worried about the consequences, then don’t worry, it’s fine! Nobody is gonna ask you to charge the barricades. Your ‘maximum exposure to risk’, as Finley puts it, can be as simple as having a beer up the back with a few friends while listening to some great live music by famous underground acts. Protest marches are a numbers game – you come along, you swell the numbers, your job’s done – relax and enjoy the surge of community spirit. Refrain from doing anything illegal and you’ll be sweet.
Or if you don’t want to go then that’s perfectly fine, too! The various movements will somehow struggle by without you. So chill, it’s ok, you don’t need to make up some fanciful posturing about ‘protests are meaningless’ and ‘I might get deported’. Although I don’t respect apathy as a position, I do respect it as a right. I only ask that the alleviation process involved doesn’t extend to engaging in scaremongering tactics amongst others that might want to participate. coz that’s just playing right into the hands of the powers that be.
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There was an extensive discussion about this here:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 9&t=122165
The most relevant regulation seems to be Article 20 of The Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act
glrs.moi.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?Type=E&id=185
[quote]Article 20
During visiting or residency, if aliens engage in certain activities that are different from the purposes of their visits, residence or the purpose declared on the E/D card besides tourism, visiting relatives or friends, or other activities that are necessary in daily life and not prohibited by laws, the Subparagraph 6 of Paragraph 1 of Article 36 of the Act shall not applied.[/quote]
immigration.gov.tw/ct.asp?x … 30026&mp=2
[quote]Article 36 National Immigration Agency shall deport aliens forcibly if they meet one
of the following circumstances:
6. Have violated Article 29 by engaging in employment or activities that
are different from the purposes of their visits, or residence. [/quote]
I don’t understand this. I may check the Chinese later. Maybe I’m wrong about it being relevant at all.
EDIT: Ahhh, the mentioned Article 29 sheds some light on things:
Now I’m not a lawyer, but assuming “a lawful assembly or procession” this seems to explicitly state that a legal resident is in the clear, or am I reading this wrong?
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That’s great, until someone gets deported.
I am totally in agreement with MM on this one. The law in the ROC says a great many things. And a great many things happen in the ROC. The two are not always, er, mutually congruent.
There is such a thing as being “dead right”, for example, if you are separated from your wife for a year or more because you were deported.
I’ll leave it to somebody else to get a citation of Godwin’s law. 
I’m repetitive and one dimensional? 
It seems your posts are either about the protests in Taiwan or the dangers of Japan changing its constitution/dislike of the LDP. 
I’d like to see you being forced to work/volunteer for Shintaro Ishihara. 
How many have been at a legal organized protest here?
How many have been asked for ID by someone official looking?
If someone asked me for my ID, I would ask them to identify themselves first. If unable to do so, tell them to fuck off and come back with someone with the legal right to ask you and the means to identify themselves. My money are that they would slink off in short order.
I have been to 2 rallies in Taiwan only, one in Yangmei in 2004 and one in Taipei 2 weeks ago. I was not asked for anything, neither did I feel unwelcome. I did not feel under surveillance, actually I did not even feel really noticed. My only contact with officialdom was when I asked a cop about the location of a toilet without a mile long queue in front of it. he told me to go into a bookshop under the national theatre, where I would find one.
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I went by the LY on the first day and was watched by at least 3 plain clothes agents. Looked like I had my pic taken too. Every rally I have been at has been the same.
I doubt attending a big rally in Taipei is a problem. As feiren said just try to support farmers against land expropriation.
The problem of course is the law is not clear and it is an administrative decision to have someone thrown out. When i was expelled there was no oversite, no appeal, no law cited. No justification was given 12 months later either for denying ne reentry.
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Are you?
What i am suggesting is that i can see how someone might feel compelled to think that your position fits very nicely into a certain era and political system that someone won’t mention, however, lest Godwin’s law be invoked.
You are welcome to your perception.