March 7~13, 2011
Editorial
Editorial: ‘Tis the season for jasmines…
Translated by Lydia Ma
One 26-year-old, unemployed young man was selling fruits behind a stand to make a living when he was penalized by authorities one December day in 2010 in Tunisia. Outraged, he set himself on fire and images of this incident quickly spread in the internet.
Soon afterward, the world woke up to learn that people in Tunisia weren’t satisfied with merely voicing their outrage online and were taking the streets of Tunisia in protest. They protested against the income disparity between the rich and the poor, the high rate of unemployment, rampant government corruption, etc. and said they wanted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali ousted.
This historic event had a domino effect in various countries around the world such as Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and more. Inspired by successful precedents, people living under autocratic regimes are finally rising up against their rulers and demanding rights and freedoms even if it may cost them their very lives.
This movement popularly coined as the Jasmine Revolution also spilled over to China, prompting Chinese authorities to censor various websites and keywords to quell a revolution in the making.
We’ve seen no shortage of attempted revolutions and attempted clampdowns in China in recent years. From Liu Xiaobo’s Charter 08 in 2008 and his subsequent arrest and detainment, to Feng Zhenghu’s denied re-entry to China in 2009 and his protest at Narita Airport, and Google’s announcement in 2010 that it’d quit censoring search results and consider pulling out of China. It seems as though just as Chinese authorities manage to nip a democracy movement somewhere, another one buds elsewhere.
As we start Lent on Ash Wednesday this week, let us remember Christ and follow him all the way to Calvary – a road marked by reaching out to the poor and the forgotten. Lent is a season for Christians to change the world through an outpouring of love and life – just as Christ did on the cross. We’ve already seen such an outpour from many people in the Jasmine Revolution in North Africa, Middle East, and China.
What about Taiwan? When we hear reports about freak fires in nightclubs and student dorms claiming innocent lives and then see government officials passing the buck, how are we to respond?
Our response is that we believe God is very much involved in everything that happens in this world. So, we urge our fellow Christians to pray for peace and justice and to show their concern with tangible actions.
Likewise, we urge our officials to take heed of what has happened to governments in other countries because the Jasmine Revolution could happen before their very own eyes and leaders devoid of introspection and repentance will be overthrown.
