Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Tomorrow, president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to be sworn in as the nation’s president. Officially, she will become president of the Republic of China (ROC). However, the world will know her as the president of Taiwan. The occasion represents a fresh start in many ways — for she is also the nation’s first female head of state.

On May 20, 1996, then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) started his second term as president, this time as the first directly elected ROC president. It was the beginning of a new epoch for Taiwan, the democratic era born of the “silent revolution.”

Amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) were reviewed and passed by the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee last week.

In addition to the renaming of the act, other major proposed changes that won approval included the removal of a requirement to apply for a permit before holding a protest or the obligation to notify authorities in advance, thereby removing law enforcement authorities’ power to disperse “unpermitted” demonstrations.