On the 10th anniversary of the Sunflower Movement, Akio Yaita, who was still working as a reporter in Beijing at the time, recalled on Facebook on the 18th that he watched the social movement take place on Taiwanese soil from the other side of the Taiwan Strait. (File photo)
2024/03/19 00:34
Chen Dingyu/Review Editor
[Instant News/Comprehensive Report]This Monday (18th) marks the 10th anniversary of the 318 Sunflower Student Movement. The director of the Taipei branch of the Japanese Sankei Shimbun, Akio Yaita, who was still working as a reporter in Beijing, China, also recalled watching Akio Yaita from the other side of the country. Every detail of this social movement in Taiwan has aroused heated discussions. He said that if Taiwan had signed the Trade in Services Agreement back then, its economic dependence on China would have become even more severe, and it would have likely been involved in China’s economic slowdown. “In a sense, the Sunflower Movement saved Taiwan.”
Akio Yaita posted on Facebook late at night on the 18th that he saw many articles reviewing the Sunflower Student Movement in the community today, and he couldn’t help but think of what he learned about the movement in Taiwan when he was a reporter in China. “10 years ago, When I was working as a reporter in Beijing, I felt that foreign journalists had less and less freedom of reporting in China. At that time, China’s economy was not bad, and many companies from the United States, Europe, and Japan were often seen investing in China. However, the Xi Jinping regime The nature of internal repression and external expansion has gradually been revealed. In particular, it has stepped up its offensive against Taiwan, hoping to achieve the goal of annexing Taiwan through economic integration and united front.”
“At that time, the Sunflower Movement broke out in Taiwan. Young people took to the streets to protest against the Ma Ying-jeou regime’s pro-China policies and against the signing of the services trade agreement between Taiwan and China. I remember that I was still a little surprised at the time and wanted to say why I shuttled between Those Taiwanese politicians and Taiwanese businessmen in Taipei and Beijing cannot clearly see the nature of the CCP, but young people living in Taiwan can see it very clearly.”
Yaita Akio went on to say that at the time, he wrote several articles in the Sankei Shimbun to support young people in Taiwan, “But to be honest, the pro-China Ma Ying-jeou Kuomintang regime controlled more than half of the seats in the Legislative Yuan. I thought at the time that the trade in services The agreement will probably be recognized in the end. But I didn’t expect that the movement would snowball. On this day in history, on March 18, young people occupied the Legislative Yuan, and the protest actually succeeded. Now that I think about it, the Sunflower Movement It is very important to Taiwan. In the past, when it came to negotiations between Taiwan and China, the decision-making power was in the hands of a small number of political elites, and young people had no say. However, if Taiwan’s economy and China’s economy were to integrate, the government would suffer the most. They are young people from Taiwan.”
“In a sense, the Sunflower Movement saved Taiwan. A few years later, China’s economy encountered serious problems. Large real estate companies suffered explosions, high-tech industries were sanctioned by Europe and the United States and other countries, and countless young people were unemployed. If Taiwan had If the Services Trade Agreement is signed, the economic dependence on China will definitely become more serious. Naturally, it is likely to be involved in China’s economic slowdown, and China will also use various excuses to blackmail Taiwan. For example, ban your pineapples today, and ban your pineapples tomorrow. If I don’t buy your grouper, and if I increase taxes on the petrochemicals you produce the day after tomorrow, Taiwan’s economy and people’s livelihood will definitely be led by China, and they will be angry but dare not speak out.”
In the end, Yaita Akio said, “Fortunately, after the Sunflower Movement, Taiwan realized the rotation of political parties. Taiwanese businessmen returned one after another, and Taiwan’s economy gradually reduced its dependence on the Chinese economy, which is why today’s stock market is close to 20,000 points. It’s really God bless Taiwan!”
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