Wild Strawberry Student Movement

Source: Wild Strawberry Student Movement
From: A Review of Post-War Taiwanese Student Movements
Date: 2015/10/12 · Author: Hsieh Sheng-yu

On 3 November 2008, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) chairman Chen Yun-lin came to Taiwan for the “Chiang-Chen Talks.” Police seized Republic of China flags and the protective measures infringed basic human rights; combined with the Assembly and Parade Act’s numerous restrictions on public gatherings, opposition parties and civic organisations were incensed. NTU sociology assistant professor Lee Ming-tsung used online platforms to mobilise university students to participate in a sit-in protest. The protest, which ran from November until 4 January 2009, later moved to campuses and became known as the Wild Strawberry Movement. Its demands included having the Legislative Yuan amend or abolish the rights-restricting Assembly and Parade Act, and having President Ma Ying-jeou and then-Premier Liu Chao-shiuan issue public apologies to the nation. In differentiating itself from the earlier “Wild Lily Student Movement,” the Wild Strawberry Movement used the “wild strawberry” as a symbol of innocence and passion; the thorns of the “wild strawberry” further demonstrated that even the “strawberry generation” possessed capability and determination for action — it is regarded as an important starting point that galvanised subsequent student movements.

 

Students demonstrating at the Executive Yuan (Source: Wikipedia)

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External Links

• Wild Strawberry Movement — Action Declaration
• Wild Strawberry Movement Leader Found Not Guilty (Apple Daily)
• Order Begins to Bloom Again: A Retrospective and Prospective Look at the 2008 Wild Strawberry Student Movement (Lin Fei-fan)
• The Wild Strawberry Student Movement Generation Is Born (Yang Tsui)
• Assembly and Parade Act Amendment Review Finally Completed! Police Will No Longer Be Able to “Hold Up Signs” to Order “Illegal Gatherings” to Disperse (Congress Watch)