All Democratic Forces Need To Join Hands Against China

Exclusive Interview - Lin Fei-fan, deputy secretary general, Democratic Progressive Party

- Namrata Biji Ahuja

In March 2014, hundreds of student activists in Taipei marched to Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, and occupied it. They were protesting the Koumintang government’s decision to ratify the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement with China, aimed at bringing Taiwan and mainland China economically closer. The protests, christened the Sunflower Student movement, attracted global attention and inspired activists in China’s special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau who were fighting against human rights violations.

Lin Fei-fan was one of the founders of the Sunflower movement. In 2019, he joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has been ruling Taiwan since 2016. Lin, 34, is one of seven Taiwanese officials and activists who were recently banned by China from entering Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China.

Lin says the Sunflower movement saved the island from falling into “the China orbit”. According to him, the expansionist designs of China are not limited to invading Taiwan. “A global threat is evident if you look at China’s Belt and Road Initiative, or its debt diplomacy in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, or its suppression of human rights in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Time has come for all democratic forces to join hands,” he says.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

Q/ From a cross-strait trade agreement to cross-strait missiles, Taiwan has come a long way in eight years.