Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun today explained the necessity of the expulsion of protesters of the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services who invaded the Executive Yuan on the night of March 23 and called for calm debate rather than antagonism.
The protesters who illegally broke into the Executive Yuan after originally occupying the Legislature not only damaged public property and stole money and items but also attempted to occupy the entire yuan as well as the premier's office, displaying that their protest methods had radicalized, Sun stated.
"Because the Executive Yuan is the nation's administrative hub, its occupation by protesters could have paralyzed the government, and important public documents could have leaked. As such events would have been too disastrous to contemplate, the police were obligated to immediately expel the intruders," he said.
"As Premier Jiang Yi-huah has stated, ordering the forced evacuation of the premises was a painful decision, but its purpose was to allow the nation's executive center to continue to function as normal and prevent social order from descending into chaos."
The premier also regrets that certain individuals today burned a book that he had written to protest his actions, the spokesperson added.
Recently, some citizens have been circulating an article Jiang once submitted to the media and quoting his statement therein that the core significance of constitutional democracy is that rulers must not abuse their authority. That quote is now being used against the premier amidst harsh criticism that he is acting as an authoritarian and abusing his power. In response, Sun quoted an Executive Yuan official who stated the premier has advocated constitutionalism from beginning to end and never wavered in this belief.
The spokesperson also pointed out that even though protesters of the services pact have illegally occupied the Legislative Yuan and rendered progress with national affairs impossible, the Executive Yuan has upheld the autonomy of the Legislature and will not take unilateral action to remove the occupiers from it. This is a clear example of the exercise of constitutional separation of powers, he said.
However, in response to the transition from occupying the Legislature in protest to illegally assaulting the Executive Yuan, the government was compelled to assert its authority to remove the occupiers in order to preserve the functions of the national government. This cannot be described as abuse of the authority to govern; rather, it was a necessary action to maintain democratic rule of law, maintained Sun.
"Moreover, recently many citizens have unhesitantly quarreled or created enemies over the services agreement controversy," he remarked. "Premier Jiang has said that citizens can have differing standpoints and opinions about any public policy, but no matter their views, they must respect the freedom and right of others to express their own opinions, no matter how much they disagree. This is proper behavior in a mature democratic society.
"Therefore, the premier has warned that when people are discussing the services accord, they must stay rational, keep cool heads and not act impulsively, displaying Taiwan's hard-earned democratic achievements."