U.N. for Taiwan Torch Relay

Yesterday’s China Post expressed displeasure about the recent rally for obtaining U.N. membership for Taiwan:

…President Chen was involved in an argument with Hau Lung-bin, mayor of Taipei, over the legality of a torch relay held on Oct. 24 in Taipei. The Taipei City government charged that the participants did not apply for a permit from relevant authorities. However, President Chen stressed that the U.N. bid is unstoppable, as it is what Taiwan’s mainstream values, and, therefore, whoever opposes it will be "doomed to death." (The dispute was finally resolved by each side making concessions.) But, can anyone, any cause or anything stand above the law in a modern democracy?

Geez, if President Chen really said people are "doomed to death" for opposing the U.N. bid, he oughta tone the rhetoric down a notch.  There’s no need for that.  But as for the question of whether anyone or any cause should stand above the law, the Post took rather a different tack on October 7th, when it came to anti-Chen protester, Shih Ming-teh:

[Shih Ming-teh] and the leaders of the Redshirts…may be convicted for staging an unauthorized rally [last October] that humiliated President Chen, who was delivering a National Day address before the diplomatic corps and foreign dignitaries. According to the Assembly Law, the people, whose freedom of assembly is guaranteed by the Constitution, have to ask for permission from the law enforcement authorities if they want to take to the streets. Rallies without permission are punishable by law.

[…]

As a matter of fact, prosecutors shouldn’t have indicted the sixteen. The National Day march was peaceful. No clashes between protesters and police were reported; nobody was injured. The mistake the indicted leaders made was not receiving police permission for the rally. However, they claimed they had filed the necessary applications. When the applications were turned down, they alleged, it was too late to call off the march. There certainly were extenuating circumstances, and anybody but a strict adherent to the letter of the law would not try to "throw the book" at the leading protesters.  [emphasis added]

So, throw the book at President Chen, but not at Shih Ming-teh?  Sounds more like an argument of convenience than a generally-applicable principle.

A China Post letter-writer on Oct 26th elaborated on the question of permits for the rally:

…most recently there has been the comment by Shieh Jye-wei that the U.N. torch relay is a "sporting activity" and not a political rally.

Left unsaid however, is the fact that the KMT is equally guilty of classifying their political rallies as "sporting activities" for the purposes of acquiring permits.  From the October 21st edition of the Taipei Times:

[President] Chen criticized [Taipei Mayor] Hau yesterday for what he said represented double standards.

He lashed out at Hau for allowing KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to hold a bicycle relay to promote his presidential campaign.

[…]

At a separate setting yesterday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City caucus slammed Hau for allowing the KMT’s cycling event promoting its UN referendum bid also to be held on Wednesday.

The KMT’s Taipei branch failed to apply for a permit before the deadline, but the city government granted it an extension so that it could complete the procedure, the caucus said.

"Hau insists on enforcing the law on the government’s sports event, but indulged the KMT in holding [their] activity illegally," DPP Taipei City Councilor Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) told a press conference yesterday at the city council.

[…]

[Cabinet spokesman Shieh Jhy-wei] reminded Hau that most cities and counties governed by the DPP had not required that Ma apply for prior approval when he embarked on a round-the-nation bicycle tour in May to drum up support for his electoral campaign.

"Most of the DPP-controlled local governments regarded Ma’s cycling tour as a sports event and exempted him from the permit requirement," Shieh said.

He said that the governments had even provided assistance with traffic control along the roads that the KMT presidential candidate had ridden on.

As for myself, I think it’s unfortunate BOTH sides are skirting the assembly laws by classifying their political rallies as sporting events.  Surely it breeds cynicism and contempt for the rule of law when Taiwan’s citizens see their two major political parties flouting the rules like that.  If permits for political rallies are more expensive or more difficult to obtain than permits for sporting rallies, then the laws governing those permits need to be loosened or repealed (as the China Post suggested in their Shih Ming-teh editorial.)

UPDATE (Oct 28/07):  Michael Turton comes to a similar conclusion towards the end of this post:

Last week the Taipei City government rightly pointed out that the DPP’s UN Torch relay was illegal under the law since they hadn’t applied for permission (too bad the city didn’t take the same attitude toward Shih Ming-te’s faux protests). President Chen then challenged the city government to arrest him. It’s nice to defy authority….except when you are authority. Then you simply signal that that law is irrelevant if you have power.  [emphasis added]