Font size:

Opposing groups of students calling themselves “Wild Strawberries” and “Little Blueberries” have been facing off in cities across the island. They belong to what is called “the strawberry generation” in Taiwan – young, fresh and good-looking, but considered soft and fragile.

The Wild Strawberries appeared first, defying their soft image and launching sit-ins in Taipei and five other cities on Nov. 6 to protest the government’s handling of the Taiwan visit of mainland China’s representative, Chen Yunlin. Chen returned to Beijing on Nov. 7 after a five-day visit, during which agreements were signed to facilitate direct flights, shipping and postal services, as well as food safety measures, between the mainland and Taiwan.

The visit was marred by large, noisy and aggressive protests from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, which were met by a sometimes heavy-handed police response. Protests, placards and signs were banned from venues visited by Chen, and those who attempted to defy the bans were hauled away.

Opposition activists complained that rather than protecting Chen, the police were trying to prevent him from seeing their protests.

Violence broke out on the evening of Nov. 6 after hundreds of people gathered for “Operation Siege,” organized by the DPP. In front of the Grand Hotel, where Chen was staying, a mob of protesters tossed petrol bombs and rocks at police, injuring more than 100 officers. Some 50 other people were also injured.

From the Wild Strawberries’ point of view, the police overreacted and even abused their authority by preventing the protesters from exercising their freedom of expression. Through their current sit-ins, they are demanding apologies from President Ma Ying-jeou and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, calling on the heads of the National Security Bureau and the police department to resign, and demanding that Taiwan’s Parade and Assembly Law be amended to do away with applications and rules surrounding protests.

For over a century, student movements in Chinese societies have been seen to represent the sincerity and the conscience of society, calling for political reforms aimed at bettering the nation. In this case however, the Wild Strawberries quickly aroused a counter-movement, the Little Blueberries, who accused them of being “green” inside – the color of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Blue is the color of the ruling party, the Kuomintang.

Their opponents have accused the DPP of manipulating the students, as they have largely echoed the party’s charges and views. For example, they have protested the rough handling and physical restraint of protesters by police, even when the protesters initiated physical struggle. They have described a wide range of police actions as “violent.”

Political figures from the ruling party and other critics have identified at least two “green” professors at National Taiwan University as instigators of the student sit-ins.

Calling themselves “wild” is a reference to the “Wild Lily” student movement of March 1990, when Taiwan was still ruled by the authoritarian Kuomintang regime. A few students from National Taiwan University initiated a sit-in to demand direct election of the island’s president, mobilizing thousands of students and contributing to the island’s democratic reforms soon afterward.

But it is doubtful that the current student movement will have a similar impact. A majority of Taiwanese do not appear to support the Wild Strawberries’ views. In an online opinion poll, 59 percent of respondents said they did not approve of the DPP organizing the massive protest on Nov. 6, which turned violent.

The majority of those polled said they disapproved of the DPP using Chen’s visit to initiate a mass movement in the streets. Some commented that there are many legal and non-violent ways for people to express their views in a democratic society like Taiwan.

The Little Blueberries have accused the Wild Strawberries of “going on a picnic” – implying that they are receiving financial support from the green camp to provide them with food, drinks, raincoats and other equipment at their rallies.

But the Wild Strawberries say this is unfair. Many of them feel they are proving their mettle by standing up – or rather, sitting down – for what they believe in. And, they point out, sitting outdoors for long hours in Taiwan’s cold, dark nights is surely no picnic.