The "Wild Lily" movement and the Decembrist student movement

One of the most important events in the history of Taiwan, the rebel island against mainland and communist China, which has greatly influenced the transition of this island-state, is the "Wild Lily" movement. This movement was a massive student protest, which lasted 6 days straight. It started on March 16 and ended on March 22, 1990. The initiators of this powerful movement were the students of the National University of Taipei (Taiwan's capital). The students' goal was to transform Taiwan from the one-party rule of the Kuomintang (KMT) to a multi-party democratic society. Even the dominant banner of this movement was: "How can we tolerate oppression by more than 700 emperors?" The protesting students chose a white lily as the symbol of the movement. This idea was thrown by some Arts students, who turned it into a tall lotus sculpture with white canvas and bamboo sticks. By analogy, the Tiananmen protesters in China had erected a statue as the "Goddess of Democracy", which closely resembled the Statue of Liberty in the USA. The Taiwanese students did not like this, so they chose a more traditional symbol, which was the white lily, an endemic plant of the area (Lilium formosanum). Therefore, Taiwan is often called the island of Formosa, because of the name of the lily. The student coordinating committee composed of seven members formulated some very important demands for the social, political and economic life of the country. The students demanded the dissolution of the National Assembly. They demanded the repeal of the Exclusion Act of 1948, which limited the fundamental rights of the constitution " Seeing that the demands of the students were taken into account by the Taiwanese policy, then it was decided to end the "Wild Lily" movement. This is also due to the fear, which could exist, that students close to the Kuomintang (the ruling party) could infiltrate the protest and provoke violent clashes at the event. Because the most interesting thing was the fact that this movement was organized in a peaceful way. This was something very positive for the people and the country in general. This movement further democratized Taiwanese society. This movement also enabled the country's president to be elected directly by the people. It brought extraordinary prosperity and economic development to the country. Today, Taiwan is among the most developed countries in Asia. Even in the world economic history it is often said "Taiwanese Miracle", because the country industrialized rapidly and the country experienced during the second half of the 20th century a staggering economic growth. It should also be noted that well-known international technology companies have their headquarters in Taiwan: Acer Inc. and Asus, the well-known smartphone firm HTC, the giant electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which produces products for Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. In terms of foreign exchange reserves, the Taiwanese state ranks fifth in the world. Therefore today Taiwan is one of the "Four Tigers of Asia" along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. By analogy, in December of the same year, a powerful student movement against the communist order in the country also began. The students demanded political pluralism, freedom of speech and the acceleration of democratic reforms. The main slogan that: "We love Albania like all of Europe". This movement continued with protest organizations in the first days of 1991 until the days of the hunger strike. They culminated at noon on February 20, 1991 with the final overthrow of the communist system by students supported by teachers and many citizens of Tirana. What did this student movement bring to our economy and society later? Everyone was intoxicated by the idea that Albania would change and prosper in the future. Everyone loved democracy, the rule of law and everything else western. Everyone wanted everyone to be equal before the law. No one is above the law. But our reality is gray reality. And it will continue to remain very gray for many decades to come. While Taiwan is one of the four Asian Tigers, we are the poorest country in Europe, where our youth has not found and still does not find itself in its own country. In our people, optimism is not embedded in our minds, but pessimism. The desire to alienate our country and ourselves has not been established, because this is really conveyed by our gloomy reality. Despite the fact that the USA and the EU have strongly entered our country to change the damaged image of Albania in the eyes of the world, the situation is still very unfortunate. Will this current situation change?– I don't know. Despite the fact that the USA and the EU have strongly entered our country to change the damaged image of Albania in the eyes of the world, the situation is still very unfortunate. Will this current situation change?– I don't know. Despite the fact that the USA and the EU have strongly entered our country to change the damaged image of Albania in the eyes of the world, the situation is still very unfortunate. Will this current situation change?– I don't know.