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Taiwan

Chang, Doris, Women’s Movements in Twentieth Century Taiwan, ed. Basu, Amrita, Champaign IL, University of Illinois Press, 2009, pp. 248

Discusses mixed fortunes of women’s movement in changing political contexts, and how Taiwanese women made selective use of western feminist theory.

Franceschet, Susan ; Krook, Mona Lena ; Tan, Netina, The Palgrave Handbook of Women’s Political Rights, ed. Ennaji, Moha, Sadiqi, Fatima, Vintges, Karen, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 784

Covers women’s political rights across all major regions of the world, focusing both on women’s right to vote and women’s right to run for political office. The countries explored are Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Canada, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States, Uganda, Uruguay, and Zimbabwe.

Hioe, Brian, Ten thousands protests against nuclear power, visits by Tsai and Lai at demonstration, New Bloom, 2019

Gives an account of massive anti-nuclear protests that took place in Taiwan, one year before the election in the country, to protest against calls by nuclear proponents to extend the operating permits for several reactors that were due to expire. 

To learn about anti-nuclear march in Taiwan, commemorating the Fukushima incident in Japan, in previous years see also https://newbloommag.net/2017/03/12/2017-anti-nuclear-march/https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/orchid-islands-nuclear-fate/; https://newtalk.tw/news/view/2016-03-12/71061https://newbloommag.net/2015/03/16/fukushima-four-years-on-in-taiwan-and-japan/; https://newbloommag.net/2015/01/30/anti-nuclear-activism-in-taiwan-and-japan/ and  https://thediplomat.com/2014/04/taiwan-rocked-by-anti-nuclear-protests/.

Jones, Brian Christophe, Law and Politics of the Taiwan Sunflower and Hong Kong Umbrella Movements, London, Routledge, 2017, pp. 236

Comparison of the Umbrella Movement with the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan is relevant for a number of reasons. Taiwan is under pressure to move closer to China, and although it is politically more independent than Hong Kong, the Taiwanese government since 2010 has entered into a close trading relationship with China, making it economically more dependent. Moreover, many smaller Taiwanese businesses have suffered. The protests occurred between 18 March and 10 April 2014 and took the form of an occupation of the legislature, which spiraled into a mass occupation of the surrounding district. Young people, who feel distinctively Taiwanese rather than Chinese, were prominent in the occupation, but it included a wide section of the population (an estimated 500,000 taking part at one point) and many others gave food, water and money to the demonstrators. This book includes contributions from a range of distinguished scholars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and other parts of Asia who explore, in particular, issues relating to democracy, the rule of law and freedom of speech. Contributors also discuss the legal and political implications of mass occupation as a protest tactic and seek to draw lessons for the future.

Kaplan, John, The Court Martial of the Kaohsiung Defendants, Berkeley CA, Berkeley University Press, 1981, pp. 79

Long, Simon, Taiwan: China’s Last Frontier, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1991, pp. 264

After sketching in Taiwan’s earlier history and the evolution of the KMT, chapter 3 describes Taiwan’s political development up to 1986, including a brief summary of the birth of opposition (pp. 66-72). Chapter 8 looks at political reform in 1986-89, the founding of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party and the rise in protest.

Ngok, Ma ; Cheng, Edmund W., The Umbrella Movement: Civil Resistance and Contentious Space in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2019, pp. 336

The editors, two professors of government in Hong Kong, argue that although the Occupy Central movement did not achieve immediate specific results it did alter the nature of Hong Kong politics through the emergence of a new movement and repertoire of protest, and also changed Hong Kong's relations with China and its perceived identity internationally. Scholarly contributors from different disciplines assess the origins of the movement, discuss new participants and forms of protest, and the Hong Kong government's response. The book includes perspectives from China, Taiwan and Macau.

See also: Cheng, Edmund W.; Chan, Wai-Yin , Explaining Spontaneous Occupation: Antecedents, Contingencies and Spaces in the Umbrella Movement Social Movement Studies, 2017, pp. 222-239

Rigger, Shelley, Taiwan’s best-case democratization, Orbis, Vol. 48, no. 2 (spring), 2004, pp. 285-292

Discusses factors promoting relatively smooth and successful transition, including democratic elements, such as local elections, even under KMT rule, and international pressure to democratize after the US and international recognition of the People’s Republic of China. Examines how ‘evolutionary, peaceful, and protracted’ transition also resulted in compromises that created problems for future. Latter part of article examines obstacles to a fully satisfactory democratic system.

Roy, Denny, Taiwan: A Political History, Ithaca NT, Cornell University Press, 2003, pp. 255

Chapter 6 examines the opposition’s struggle and breakthrough.

Tun-jen, Cheng, Democratizing the quasi-Leninist regime in Taiwan, World Politics, Vol. 41, no. (July), 1989, pp. 471-489

Tun-jen, Cheng ; Haggard, Stephen, Taiwan in transition, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 1, no. 2 (spring), 1990, pp. 62-74

Discusses models of democratization, opting for an emphasis on processes rather than preconditions. Examines rather dismissively role of protest in 1970s, but notes evolution in the 1980s, and concludes that although 1986 did not mark a Philippine-style people power transition, it was a ‘tacit negotiation’ between the regime and the opposition. Cheng Tun-jen provides a similar analysis in Cheng Tun-jen, Democratizing the quasi-Leninist regime in Taiwan World Politics, 1989, pp. 471-489 .

Weiss, Meredith Leigh ; Aspinall, Edward, Student Activism in Asia: Between Protest and Powerlessness, ed. Solomon, Clare, Palmieri, Tania, Minneapolis MN, University of Minnesota Press, 2012, pp. 318

Comparative examination of student-led protest challenging governments in Asia since the Second World War, with a focus on Burma, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines

Weller, Robert P. ; Hsin-Hung, Michael Hsaio, Culture, Gender and Community in Taiwan’s Environmental Movement, In Kalland; Persoon, Environmental Movements in Asia (C.1.a. General and International Studies), London and New York, Routledge,

Yangsun, Chou ; Nathan, Andrew J., Democratizing transition in Taiwan, Asian Survey, Vol. 27, no. 3 (March), 1987, pp. 277-299