Former Premier Jiang Yi-huah has criticized the new government’s move to drop charges against 126 persons involved in the Sunflower Student Movement.
The protesters had been charged with counts related to the takeover of Taiwan’s cabinet building for several hours on March 23 and 24, 2014. They had also occupied the legislature for 23 days to protest a trade pact with China.
The administration of President Tsai Ing-wen made the decision to drop charges the day Tsai took office on May 20. The administration says that the incident was a political, not a legal issue. Premier Lin Chuan announced the decision to drop charges on Monday.
Jiang wrote in an article Wednesday that the new government is not distinguishing right from wrong. Jiang wrote that though he had some sympathy for the protestors, they attacked the cabinet building, broke the building’s windows and damaged government property. He said they crossed the red line of democratic protest and ceased to be rational and peaceful in their demands.
Jiang said that the kind of democracy where any group can occupy the legislature is not the kind of democracy that Taiwan wants. He also said that the new administration should not use the description of the event as a “political incident” to condone its actions.
The Cabinet says it respects Jiang’s comments.