Police Raid Taipei Record Shop to Turn off Music ‘Uncomfortable to China Envoy’

November 6, 2008
By Ashinakhan

(Taipei) Armed police stormed in a record shop nearby the venue of a feast given to Chen Yunlin, the highest-ranking Taiwan affair officer in China and the top negotiator for a new round of cross-strait talks, on Tuesday night and forced it to stop playing the hymn “Ode to Taiwan”, lyrics of which is believed to annoy Chen. The unlawful raid angered protesters outside the feast venue and a conflict soon ensued as police further force the shop to shut down. Several protesters were injured and the shop gate was seriously damaged in the conflict.

The raid was only the latest addition to a series of disputable police action over protesters against cross-strait talks. Dissidents have been questioning that Ma’s pro-China inclination is going unchecked and his unconditional “openness” will result in eventual loss of Taiwan’s sovereignty to China thought talks. The unspoken ban of Taiwan flags within the sight range of Envoy Chen invoked their fears, and several attempts to display national flags in front of Chen were only met by police brutality with very shaky legal ground.

Lien Chan, KMT’s honorary Chairman and the primary promoter of cross-strait talks, hosted an evening feast at Ambassador’s Hotel to Chen after he reached a four-point agreement on direct flights, direct maritime shipping, direct postal service, and cooperation in ensuring food safety with his counterpart, Chiang Ping-kun, chairman of the Strait Exchange Foundation. Several hundreds of protesters, questioning the legality of the agreement and its consequences to damage Taiwan’s sovereignty under its “One China” frame, held a demonstration outside the hotel but were heavily outnumbered and successfully kept away by police guards. Several high profile dissidents were injured as they tried to get into the hotel lobby “for a cup of coffee”.

Sunrise Records, a dealer and distributor specializing in classical music and grassroot music, played “Ode to Taiwan” at its shop gate just in a time when the standoff reached its climax. There were a cheer among the crowd and some protesters danced to the music. The joy lasted less than 20 seconds before a shock troop jumped out of the blockade line and stormed the shop. The troop leader demanded Sunrise Records to turn off the music immediately “because it was so loud that it could even be heard in the hotel.” He also ordered his troop to pull down the shop gate, but did not present any warrant or court order supporting his action.

The raid angered the protesters, and they began to demand the troop to stop illegal actions and retreat. Police troop used baton against the shouting crowd and the shop gate was nearly destroyed in the jostle as protesters attempted to prevent the forced shutdown. Their attempts were futile in face of a outnumbering and much more organized police force.

Li Han-ching, the commander of the shock troop, told local press, “We were just ‘reminding’ them (Sunrise Records) that their neighbors were complaining about their loud music, and they turned it off out of their own judgment.” He also refused to apologize in public as city councilors questioned him about the incident. Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan’s President, and Wang Cho-chiun, Director-General of National Police Agency, both announced their support for the troop.

Chang Pi, the president of Sunrise Records, decried that the police was not telling the truth. However, she also said that she did not plan to file a suit. Her stock of “Ode to Taiwan” CD was soon depleted the next morning as passionate sympathizers kept coming for it.

A group of lawyers representing the Judicial Reform Foundation, a local NGO promoting judicial human rights, filed a lawsuit against the police department of Taipei on behalf of the victims. Lawmakers from the Democratic Progress Party also held press conference to denounce police brutality.

Cross-strait talks have been in a hiatus for ten years as Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan President at that time, took tougher stance against Beijing. The Ma Ying-jeou regime places the talks on the top of its agenda in hope that tighter links would give local economy a much-needed boost. However, some economists warned about the danger of putting all eggs in one basket. Local political observers also are worried about the “trap effects” if Taiwan does not insist on its sovereignty when engaging China for economic benefits.

China has always seen Taiwan as its “renegade province” and vows for an ultimate reunification, either through peaceful or military means. One the other hand, most residents in Taiwan tends to favor the status quo, i.e. de facto independence, and some of them even call for “nation normalization”, or a de jure independence. However, there are also people calling for unification with China.

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(BIG5 Chinese)