Taiwan protesters on month-long march ahead of referendums

Participants of an annual demonstration in Taiwan with about 30 years of history are rallying support for their cause this year in a new way: marching from the south to the north of the island ahead of key referendums next month.

Previously a one-day rally in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei, this year's Autumn Struggle will take at least 30 days as participants walk from the southernmost county of Pingtung to the capital.

The event is focused on two of the four referendums on Dec 18 that relate to pork imports and protection of algal reefs.

The protesters are against the government's policy reversal to allow imports of pork containing the additive ractopamine, and the plan to build Taiwan's third liquefied natural gas terminal in the north-west municipality of Taoyuan where an algal reef is located.

About a dozen participants from labour unions and civic groups began walking north from Pingtung last Saturday, logging 15km to 20km a day. When they stop at different towns each night, they hold impromptu talks to brief residents on the referendum questions.

"Some people join us to walk for a day or so before returning to their homes... There are even those who will take the train south to join us for a few days before going back north for work," said event spokesman Lee Chien-cheng, who does marketing for a small farm in Kaohsiung.

The goal is to arrive in Taipei on Dec 12 - about a week before the referendums - so that the final rally in the city will prompt people to vote against the two issues.

"We did not include the two other topics in the referendums as the groups participating this year were unable to reach a consensus on where we stand, and we respect different opinions," said Professor Huang Te-pei from Shih Hsin University's Graduate Institute for Social Transformation Studies.

The other two issues are whether a nuclear power plant near Taipei should be activated, and if referendums should be held on the same day as major elections in the future.

The Autumn Struggle began as a march in 1988 when workers called for labour rights laws to be amended. That was the same year Taiwan made public assemblies and marches legal after martial law was lifted.

"In the early 90s, the Autumn Struggle was backed by major labour unions, and their participation sometimes prompted the government to respond to our calls sooner, if at all," Prof Huang said.

As the march gained momentum each year, more civic groups - many of which were not labour-oriented - joined the event, and the organisers decided to also address other issues.

The march grew to accommodate those calling for improvements in health insurance policies and gender equality laws.

Since last year, "people who were concerned about food safety and environmental issues also joined", said Mr Lee.

He said last November's event was extremely successful, as more than 50,000 people marched in Taipei to protest against pork imports from the United States.

The larger-than-usual turnout was partly due to support from the main opposition party, Kuomintang, which has been vocal in its disapproval of the government's decision to begin importing pork from this year.

There are food safety issues as US livestock are fed ractopamine to enhance the leanness of meat. The additive's use is banned in Taiwan, the Chinese mainland and about 160 countries and regions because of its suspected negative impact on humans.

But President Tsai Ing-wen has taken to her social media accounts in recent weeks to voice her support for the pork import policy, which she said will pave the way for a bilateral trade agreement with the US.

She also argued that the natural gas receiving terminal in Taoyuan is a necessary step in phasing out the use of fossil fuels.

Mr Lee said: "These, especially the pork import issue, are things that affect every Taiwanese person, given how much pork we consume. I think the fact that the government announced the import policy without briefing the people first was unacceptable... and we want to express that with the Autumn Struggle."