2024 Taiwanese constitutional controversy

The 2024 Taiwanese constitutional controversy started with the proposal and passage of a set of controversial legislative reform bills. The controversy triggered the so-called Bluebird Movement, a series of ongoing protests.

Background
In May 2024, a set of bills that were presented as legislature reform, were allegedly rammed through without proper legislative review and procedures. These bills were eventually passed by the Legislative Yuan that gave the body more oversight and investigative powers.

The proposers, the majority opposition coalition of the Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP), and supporters of the bill claimed the amendments were necessary to fight corruption and increase accountability. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who leads a minority government under president and party leader Lai Ching-te, civic groups and some legal experts oppose the bill based on its alleged unconstitutionality, vague definitions, infringements of civil liberties and national security, and apparent targeting of the incoming administration.

Critics of the legislative reform bill were also concerned about how it was rushed through without proper procedures.

Notable provisions in the new legislation
The bills contain fines & imprisonments liability for what the bills termed contempt of the legislature (藐視國會罪). There is no right to legal counsel free from legislative speaker's permission. The bill also allows mandatory summons to anyone to attend legislature hearings, in addition to governmental and public officials, and are subjected to the controversial clauses too. A motion to charge individuals for offenses that are liable for fines requires 6 legislators to propose, which then requires a majority vote of the whole legislature to take effect. Some clauses in these bills are defined vaguely.

In July 2024, KMT and TPP legislators first used the law's new powers to launch a task force investigating the National Communications Commission for approving Mirror TV, alleging that the approval process was subject to inappropriate government influence. The DPP alleged that the probe was improper due to previous investigative efforts, which Mirror Media complained were disproportionate compared to the approval process that other channels had.

Timeline
From 17 May 2024, protests broke out in Taipei and other places in Taiwan.

A heated and occasionally violent debate took place in the Legislative Yuan as the bill was voted on, which critics allege was completed in a rushed and opaque way. Opposition to the bill was expressed through protests across Taiwan, the largest being at the Legislative Yuan itself with up to 50,000 to 100,000 protestors at the most attended demonstration, making them the biggest series of protests since the Sunflower Student Movement. The protest movement was named the Bluebird Movement, which is orthographically similar to Qingdao East Road where the main protests took place.

May 21
Civic groups received permits to assemble near the Legislative Yuan ahead of May 21, giving law enforcement time to redirect traffic. Starting in the morning, over 40 groups gathered on Qingdao East Road despite weather conditions, with the crowd growing to around 30,000 in the evening. Many protestors carried sunflowers and signage that displayed slogans such as "No discussion, no democracy" (沒有討論、沒有民主).

May 24
On May 24, over 100,000 people gathered to protest the bill.

May 28
On May 28, the bill was passed and the DPP announced it intended to file a legal challenge on unconstitutionality grounds. Over 70,000 people turned out to protest the passage of the bill as civic groups and students gathered near the legislature and expressed their concerns. In attendance was businessman Robert Tsao, who criticized Kuomintang legislators for enabling the Chinese Communist Party’s united front work in Taiwan as protestors called for recalling Han Kuo-yu, Fu Kun-chi, and other Kuomintang legislators.

In Changhua County, students organized a Bluebird Movement rally, which attracted over 1,000 attendees. In Yilan County, two high school students organized a rally in Luodong in support of the Taipei protestors.

After May 28
After bills passed, the Executive Yuan filed a reconsideration request to the Legislative Yuan on Jane 6; the Legislative Yuan rejected the request on Jane 21. After the rejection, the DPP legislative caucus, President Lai, the Executive Yuan, and the Control Yuan filed a joint constitutional review to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court held a preparatory hearing on July 10.

International reactions
On 20 May 2024, a group of international academics, journalists, former officials (including former American Institute in Taiwan director William A. Stanton) and other critics of the reforms released a joint statement that said the proposed bill granted the Legislative Yuan "excessive power compared with other constitutional democracies and has not been allowed sufficient review by the public or DPP lawmakers."

Overseas Taiwanese in the United States organized a campaign to promote the Bluebird Movement in support of the protestors, raising US$80,050 within three hours to feature a billboard in Times Square in New York City. On 4 June 2024, over 100 Taiwanese gathered in Times Square to support the Bluebird Movement, with the organizers reporting 500 attendees. Students and professionals overseas organized an international petition to protest the abuse of legislative powers, and signers include Taiwanese in the United Kingdom, United States, Japan, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.