2014 IN REVIEW / 年終回顧
TAIWAN’S SUNFLOWER MOVEMENT
The story of the past year for Taiwan has, of course, been the Sunflower Movement which took Taiwan by storm on March 18th of the past year. Beginning with the apparently spontaneous seizure of the Taiwanese legislature, the Legislative Yuan, by a group of students protesting the CSSTA free trade agreement with China, the movement became more broadly an expression of dissatisfaction with Taiwan’s internal lack of democracy and the possibility of Chinese encroachment upon Taiwanese sovereignty. Though the occupation came to an end just under a month later, the implications of the Sunflower Movement continue to unfold for Taiwan, China, and, more broadly, the East Asian region.
太陽花運動
台灣去年最大的新聞，當然是 3 月 18 日突然發生，震驚全台灣的太陽花運動。這場運動由抗議對中國服務貿易協定的學生團體自發性地佔領立法院揭開序幕，隨後更廣泛地展現了台灣人對於內政缺乏民主，外部又被中國侵蝕主權的不滿。儘管佔領行動不到一個月就宣告收場，太陽花運動的影響至今卻仍在台灣、中國，乃至整個東亞地區持續發展。
HONG KONG’S UMBRELLA MOVEMENT
Certainly one of, if not the most important political event in the East Asian region of the past year, the outbreak of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement in late September caught the attention of the world in a way that the Sunflower Movement did not. But the developments of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement was watched carefully by Taiwanese, not only because of the implications that it would pose for China’s own efforts to encroach upon Taiwanese sovereignty, but out of a sense of solidarity and a sense of shared cause. We are still witnessing the aftereffects of the Umbrella Movement regarding China’s attempts to settle questions of its perceived borders and its geopolitical agenda for the Asia-Pacific region.
香港雨傘運動
《破土》試著從香港雨傘革命的開端，從事態爆發之前持續追蹤報導，而在雨傘運動期間，《破土》也到了現場訪問幾位參與者、觀察者和組織者。
NINE-IN-ONE ELECTIONS
The “nine-in-one” elections held in late November were the largest set of local elections in Taiwanese history. Following the Sunflower Movement, nine-in-one elections were viewed domestically and internationally as a referendum on the policies of the KMT government, and ended with the triumph of independent mayoral candidate Ko Wen-Je in the contest for mayorship of Taipei with KMT candidate and Lien family scion Sean Lien and the general victory of pan-Green candidates across Taiwan.
九合一選舉
十一月底的「九合一」選舉是台灣歷史上最大規模的一次地方選舉。在太陽花運動之後，國內外普遍將「九合一」選舉看作是對國民黨政府政策的信任投票，選舉結果則是無黨籍候選人柯文哲在台北市長選舉擊敗國民黨提名的連家公子連勝文，以及泛綠陣營候選人在全台各地的大勝。更重要的是，政治圈努力爭取太陽花運動期間舉足輕重的公民社會力量，而九合一選舉的結果展現了台灣候選人爭取這股力量的成果，柯文哲的勝選是一項明證，九合一選舉過後太陽花運動領袖陳為廷在苗栗縣參選立法委員也是如此，儘管陳為廷隨即陷入性騷擾醜聞而不得不退選。
GENDER/SEXUALITY
Although Taiwan has a reputation as a LGBTQ-friendly country, particularly in comparison to other East Asian countries, a number of challenges continue to unmet. Questions of women’s rights and feminism continue to be an issue. Despite the apparent successes of politically progressive groups and individuals in past elections, misogynist or chauvinist sentiment persists even within Taiwanese civil society.
性別認同／性傾向
雖然台灣這個國家享有對多元性別友善的盛名，特別是和其他東亞國家相較之下，但仍有許多挑戰尚未得到回應。促成同性婚姻的立法長期被擱置在立法院，但最近立法院開始審查同性婚姻法案，這是東亞各國第一次審查同性婚姻相關法案。但這項法案最後還是在立法院遭到擱置，主要原因還是國民黨立委的反對。衛生福利部在十二月初明令不經外科手術更改法定性別是合法的，但實行方式的進一步討論仍須由內政部籌劃。不過一如在其他國家那樣，在台灣推動多元性別權利最為艱困的挑戰，恐怕仍然會是保守團體的反對，包括三不五時和國民黨串連抵制的宗教團體。女性權利及女性主義問題仍然是爭議所在。雖然進步政團和個人在最近的大選中取得顯著的成功，厭惡女性和男性沙文心態就算在台灣公民社會中都還是根深蒂固。不只是太陽花運動領袖陳為廷近日被揭露的性騷擾醜聞紀錄，無黨籍和民進黨政治人物隨後充滿男性沙文偏見的公開評論，又一次廣泛地將台灣政治圈中難解的性別歧視問題拉上檯面。
LABOR
While the Taiwanese labor movement has faced a number of historical challenges which date back to the restrictions placed on labor during the Martial Law period, this year was a year with no shortage of activity by Taiwanese labor. Apart from a May Day protest which carried on immediately after the Sunflower Movement, the year’s prominent labor struggles were the Former Toll Collectors Self-Help Organization of laid-off toll worker’s attempt to raise attention to their plight and former workers of Hualon Group to receive full renumeration for owed payouts.
勞工
台灣的勞工運動在歷史上一直面臨著諸多挑戰，這往往能夠追溯到戒嚴時期施加於勞工的諸多限制；但在這一年，台灣勞工的行動卻未曾間斷。除了緊接著太陽花運動之後的五一勞動節大遊行，這一年最引人注目的勞工抗爭，是身陷絕境的前國道收費員自救會的抗爭，以及華隆關廠工人力爭積欠薪資全額支付的抗爭。
LAND STRUGGLES
The longstanding issues of forced land eviction in Taiwan, whether in urban centers as Taipei, or rural areas as Miaoli, remain unresolved. Following the demolition of the Chang Pharmacy, Miaoli was largely quiet for the past year. However, the demolition of the Wang family residence in Shilin, where members of the Wang family had been holding out against the developers of the Wenlin Yuan apartment complex, marked the unfortunate end of a prolonged struggle. Yet the question of urban eviction was raised again close to the end of the year regarding the forced evictions that would have to take place in Taoyuan County in order to develop the Taoyuan Aerotropolis complex.
土地抗爭
台灣的土地強制徵收及迫遷問題由來已久，不論是在台北都會中心還是苗栗農村都未曾解決。雖然苗栗近年來由於大埔張藥房的強拆而成為抗爭的溫床，但在過去一年裡倒是沒有太大動作。然而，士林王家在長期抵抗文林苑大樓開發商之後仍然遭到強拆，則象徵著反對都市強制迫遷及都市更新的多年抗爭終歸徒勞無功。但到了年底，都市迫遷的問題又因為桃園縣即將在桃園國際機場周邊開發桃園航空城而重新引發關注。
THE ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT
While nuclear power has been protested in Taiwan for decades, the past year was an eventful one for anti-nuclear activists. Apart from a large-scale protest in early March, immediately following the end of the occupation of the Legislative Yuan, nuclear power became a hotbed issue with the hunger strike of well-respected democracy activist and former chairman of the DPP Lin Yi-Hsiung against nuclear power in Taiwan. This culminated in the occupation of major intersection Zhongxiao West Road on April 27th by over 50,000, protestors only being driven away later that night through the use of riot police and tear gas. With the “temporary halt” of construction on the controversial Nuclear Reactor No. 4 in Gongliao, the Taiwanese anti-nuclear movement would seem to have won a victory, but it remains a question as to whether construction will resume in the future.
反核運動
反對核能發電的抗爭在台灣已經持續數十年之久，過去這一年卻是反核運動者多事的一年。除了三月太陽花運動前夕，吸引數萬人走上台北街頭的大規模抗議之外，就在立法院占領退場之後，由於備受尊崇的民主運動人士，前民進黨主席林義雄以絕食反對台灣核電，核能議題再次成為爭論焦點，在 4 月 27 日超過五萬人占領台北市交通要道忠孝西路時達到最高峰，最後在隔天凌晨被鎮暴警察及水砲強制驅離。隨著備受爭議的貢寮第四核能發電廠工程「暫停」，台灣反核運動看來是獲得勝利了，但核四工程是否還會復工，台灣其他核子反應爐如何處置，以及過去藉著讓島上原住民相信核廢料儲存場是罐頭工廠而存放在蘭嶼的核廢料未來如何處理，都還是未知數。而且，由於日本有可能重啟核電，只要輻射汙染仍是跨越國界的威脅，核能議題就會繼續爭論下去，核能發電議題的國際合作也是有待討論的問題。