Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The answer given by a police officer for blocking a protest could not have been more obscure, if not worrying. Asked on what grounds Tibetan protesters applying for a permit to demonstrate on Sunday against a controversial Tibetan Buddhist art exhibition at the National Palace Museum would have been turned down, the officer’s response was: “Based on which law? Well, maybe I should not answer that question.”

Well, maybe he should, because there is no law in this land that can bar a group from holding a protest at the museum, political or otherwise. Such a law exists less than 200km across the Taiwan Strait, however, and there are signs that the laws over there are little by little becoming a rule of thumb here.

Hundreds of protesters yesterday started a sit-in outside the legislature, fueled by mounting anger over the government’s cross-strait policies and the expected passage of a controversial trade agreement with China later this week.

Waving green Taiwanese independence flags and signs emblazoned with the slogan “the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] is selling out Taiwan,” a dozen organizations filled the streets around the legislature, calling on lawmakers to reflect popular opinion and protect the nation’s sovereignty.