Taiwan Dream Foundation

And the show goes on?

Last night, on the anniversary of one of the deadliest quakes in Taiwan's history (9/21), I took the chance to attend one of these rallies hosted by the KMT to have Chen Sui Bian step down. Before I left my house, I first watched TVBS and CTI for their coverage on the situation down at Tainan City Hall. The images on TV were not of the KMT rally, but on the massive crowd of Tainan residents in opposition to the KMT. The crowd of local Taiwanese was several hundred strong. Multiple arrests from the two previous nights kept many protestors from both sides at home.

As I approached City Hall, I was astonished at the number of police in riot gear that had been assembled. News figures put the police force at 1300-1400. As there were not enough police in Tainan city, police were also called in from Tainan county. With the huge police presence, I expected a massive KMT turnout. Just entering the KMT side, I must have passed at least 500 police. After all the barbwire, fences, riot shields and batons, I entered the main protest stage. In front of this tiny stage, were about 100 KMT supporters. That's right, only 100 supporters. TVBS and CTI said there were 300-400 supporters.

Standing amidst all the police and fences, I thought that the use of government resources to let this event go on were ridiculous. 1300 police for 100 KMT protestors. So that's about 13 police officers for every one KMT protestor. I don't know about you, but I would rather have at least half, if not more of those police patroling the streets of Tainan city and Tainan county.

TVBS and CTI news have tried to portray Tainan citizens as the bad guys and the KMT as pitiful citizens being bullied by local Taiwanese. Don't forget, the KMT is the one that brought the trouble to Tainan. They are the ones that came to our doorstep and interupted our daily lives. It's our right to go out and protest if we don't want that type of propganda here. People of Taiwan, turn off TVBS and CTI. Get on the internet, read multiple sources, or read more papers written outside of the country. The truth is out there, and it's not what the TVBS and CTI media are feeding you.

posted by Eric @ 2:06 AM