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the Taiwan Comparative Law Foundation; Rev. C. S.
Yang, Director General of the Taiwan Presbyterian
Church; and Chai Trong-rong, director of the Referendum Promotion Association.
Within the coalition, Chen Shih-meng served
as convener while Lin Ferng-Ching, a professor of
NTU’s Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering, served as the director-general.
Chen Cheng-jan, Luo Wen-chia, and Chung Chia-pin
were in charge of the press and event planning. Nonviolent demonstrations were led by Chien Hsi-chieh
and Pastor Lin Tsung-cheng.
Chapter 3
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Protest: The Crucial 20 Days
The Swift Assembly of the 100 Action
Alliance
On September 21, the 100 Action Alliance held its
inaugural meeting at the National Taiwan University
Alumni Hall. October 10th was a mere 20 days away.
Their founding declaration stated that the 100 Action
Alliance is an organization jointly established by the
academic circle, cultural field, doctors, lawyers, religious personnel, social activist groups, and minority
groups.
The declaration stated, “we have come together to
Family members of those persecuted based on Article 100 of the Criminal Code took to the streets.
Photographer: Hsu Po-hsin
September 1991: Chien Hsi-chieh leading a practice of non-violent protest in front of the Legislative Yuan.
Photographer: Liu Chen-hsiang
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demand the abolishment of Article 100 of the Criminal Code. We also oppose the military parade. Both
Article 100 of the Criminal Code and the military parade are antithetical to democracy and current trends.
If the two are not abolished, Taiwan will never be
able to walk the path towards becoming a modernized
country.”
The declaration also emphasized, “our primary demand is the abolishment of Article 100 of the Criminal Code. If this demand is not clearly met by the
Kuomintang, we will enact concrete countermeasures
against the military parade.”
In a press conference, the alliance announced its
two-phase strategy against the military parade and Article 100 of the Criminal Code: Stage 1 consisted of
“peaceful pressure”. Stage 2 was “active attack”. Respectively, the actions they would take included lobbying, making complaints, holding speeches, holding
public hearings, holding debates, mobilizing activists,
“non-violent” demonstrations, and protest against the
military parade.
The plan was to take incremental measures. As
long as the authoritarian regime promised to abolish
Article 100 of the Criminal Code, the coalition would
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