Opinion | Protesting students need 101 class in democracy
Robust civic engagement must come with a willingness to compromise
A student-led mass protest in Taipei to demand withdrawal of a service trade pact with the mainland saw tens of thousands of Taiwanese exercising utmost restraint to bring the demonstration to an admirably peaceful ending.
Chanting "Safeguard democracy" and "Withdraw the services trade pact", the students even cleaned up their litter outside the Presidential Office when their leaders announced the end of the day's protest.
Organisers say half a million people participated, while police put the figure at 120,000. Even if the lower estimate is accurate, the resolution of the stand-off was seen by some observers as a sign of a strong democracy.
But how mature is it? And should what happened over the past two weeks be held out as an example for Asian neighbours? The answer is both yes and no.
Ma remains the elected president, responsible for all Taiwanese and not just students
In the "wild lily" student movement of 1990, a group of students led 22,000 supporters through a six-day, sit-in at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a facility open to the public, to demand direct elections of president and congress.
In contrast, students in the current "sunflower" movement stormed parliament illegally. They demanded that a services trade pact with the mainland be brought under new scrutiny. The pact calls for service industries, such as banking and hospitals, to be opened up across the Taiwan Strait. Students fear large mainland companies will dominate the sector, destroying local businesses and killing off jobs. More supervisors from the mainland will be sent over to boss around locals, they say.