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Taiwan has been plunged into domestic political turmoil less than a week after new President Lai Ching-te took office amid increasing military pressure from China.
Voting is due to continue on Tuesday as the opposition tries to force through a major expansion of parliament’s powers that would severely constrain the president’s powers. Tens of thousands of people, mostly young supporters of Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party, protested against the move on Friday.
The standoff came as China’s military conducted a second day of drills around Taiwan in what it called “punishment” for Lai, a staunch defender of Taiwan’s de facto independence.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has threatened to annex it by force if Taipei refuses to submit to its rule indefinitely.
The People’s Liberation Army on Friday sent fighter jets, bombers carrying live missiles and naval ships off Taiwan’s east coast.
Meanwhile, China’s coast guard said it conducted law enforcement patrols east of Taiwan that included mock ship inspections, a dark warning against Beijing’s attempts to bring the island, which relies heavily on energy and food imports, to its knees with a blockade.
Following the drills, Lai on Sunday urged China to “share with Taiwan the heavy responsibility for regional stability” and said he “looks forward to promoting mutual understanding and reconciliation.”
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 62 People’s Liberation Army aircraft and 27 naval vessels were active around Taiwan on Friday.
China has cut off dialogue with Taiwan’s government and stepped up military threats since Tsai Ing-wen, also a member of the DPP, took power in 2016. But China has responded more harshly to Lai’s appointment, accusing him of “provocation” and “deception.”
In his inaugural address on Monday, Lai called on his compatriots to “demonstrate their determination to defend the nation in the face of the many threats and attempted infiltrations from China.”
“All political parties should oppose annexation and defend sovereignty, and no one should have the idea of giving up national sovereignty in exchange for political power,” he added.
But the parliamentary reforms, which the DPP, legal scholars and many civic groups have denounced as an unconstitutional power grab, have set the stage for bipartisan conflict.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party, which together hold a majority in parliament, passed most of the bills during marathon debate on Friday, held up only by repeated procedural delays by the DPP.
The proposed amendments would make it a crime punishable by up to one year in prison for government officials to give false answers during parliamentary hearings and would impose heavy fines on anyone deemed not to have fully cooperated with lawmakers.
Lev Nachman, a political scientist at Taipei’s National Chengchi University, said the opposition’s obstruction of the new government was expected.
“But these changes will not only thwart Lai’s activities, they could undo much of what has been done over the past eight years,” he said. “The worst-case scenario is that this turns into a witch-hunt of civil servants. [the opposition] I want it to go away.”
The amendments would expand Congress’ investigative powers and allow it to request classified information from the military, raising concerns that the changes could leak intelligence to China at a time when Taiwan is seeking to bolster its defense capabilities. They would also allow for heavy fines to be imposed on private organizations, companies and individuals who do not comply with lawmakers’ requests for testimony.
Nachman said provisions compelling military officials to testify could jeopardize important defense projects such as Taiwan’s construction of domestically built submarines.
The controversy was exacerbated by a decision by a majority in parliament to vote on the amendments by a show of hands with little discussion.
The Taiwan Bar Association said the rushed legislation “undermines the foundations of Taiwan’s democracy” and violates “the basic principles of democratic constitutionalism.”
The DPP considers Taiwan an independent country, while the KMT sees it as part of the greater China nation and believes Taipei should pursue dialogue with Beijing.
DPP lawmakers have accused the opposition of colluding with China’s Communist Party. Objecting to attempts to force the release of military documents, DPP lawmaker Guo Bo-wen asked KMT lawmakers, “Do you want to get information that you can bring back as a gift the next time you visit China?”
The opposition argues that Taiwan’s political system gives too much power to the president.
“Where in the world is there a country where the administration is not monitored by anyone?” said Wu Zongxian, chairman of the justice committee and one of the architects of the KMT’s proposal.
