Taiwan's KMT government taking away democratic freedoms in kowtow to Beijing

On the international wire, you only hear of the "historic" trade agreements signed.

That is just a show being put on by the KMT and the CCP.

The real story:

In a move not seen since the authoritarian dictatorship era in Taiwan, the KMT party which currently has the legislature and executive branches of government has blocked freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press -- during the visit of China's envoy and head of ARATS, Chen Yunlin.

Several thousand policemen, people's flags were confiscated, press were barred from the hotel meetings, private stores off of public streets were forcibly closed (e.g. Sunrise Record Store was targeted by police for playing a Taiwanese song 戀戀北迴線)


Jerome Keating wrote an excellent analysis and insider look at the goings-on at the Grand Hotel where Chen Yunlin stayed.

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Meanwhile, the KMT has been stepping up its arrest and detention of opposition leaders -- see the following article

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林奐均 Lin Huan-chun's open letter to supporters of the then presidential candidate Ma in March before the election of Ma Ying-jeou now seems quite prescient: pointing to evidence over the past eight years, it warned about how the KMT had not really changed from its authoritarian past. The evidence gets clearer with each succeeding month of Ma's administration.