A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/149219 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications How do social media affect Taiwanese people’s participation in social movements under the Ma Ying-Jeou administration between 2008 and 2016 Pei-Hsin Gwenyth Wang A dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick March 2019 3 Table of Contents List of Figures 6 List of Tables 6 List of Pictures 6 Acknowledgements 7 Declaration 8 Abstract 8 List of Abbreviations 9 Chapter 1 Introduction 10 1.1 Sunflower Movement takes social movements in Taiwan to 15 another level 1.2 Outline of the Study 25 Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 32 2.2 Citizenship 33 2.3 Is it possible young citizens’ perception of citizenship might 43 have been changed? 2.4 New forms of political participation 49 2.5 Is “digital citizenship” a potential form of citizenship in the 56 online world? 2.6 Converged technology; multiplied networks 65 2.7 Conclusion 78 Chapter 3 – Citizenship in Taiwan, a case study 3.1 Introduction 80 3.2 Taiwan’s democratisation development 86 3.3 Taiwan after the 2016 presidential election 101 3.4 Key factors behind Taiwan’s democratisation process 108 3.5 Research method 121 3.6 Conclusion 125 Chapter 4 – Resurgence of Social Movement in Taiwan 4.1. Introduction 127 4.2. Resurgence of social movement during President Ma’s first term 128 4.3 Anti-Kuokuang Petrochemical Movement (October 2010 – April 140 2011) 4.4 Unfold the Events, Unwrap the Political Communication 145 4.5 Analysis: Understanding social media in a digital context 159 4.6 Conclusion 165 4 Chapter 5 – Sophisticating Usage of ICT in Social Movement 5.1 Introduction 168 5.2 Anti-media monopoly movement 170 5.3 Usage of ICTs and social media 176 5.4 Analysing Anti-Media Monopoly Movement 180 5.5 White Shirt Movement in 2013 183 5.6 Conclusion 200 Chapter 6 – When Sunflower Seeds take Root in Democratic Soil 6.1. Introduction 205 6.2. Sunflower Movement: the origin and implication 206 6.3. A More Sophisticated Usage of ICTs and Social Media 215 6.4. Discussion and Analysis 220 6.5. When citizens publicity express their private me-centricity 222 6.6. Conclusion 241 Chapter 7 – Analysis & Conclusion 7.1 Summary of the Study 246 7.2 Contribution, Validity, and Limitation of the Study 247 7.3 Analysis 251 7.4 Conclusion 269 Appendix 276 Bibliography 278 5 List of Figures Figure 2.1 The Changing Public, adopted from Dalton 4 0 List of Tables Table 3.1 from “A “Green” Legislature: Taiwan’s New 103 Parliament More Different Than Ever” Table 3.2 Female representation in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan 104 Table 3.3 Numbers of NGOs in Taiwan between pre-1949 and 110 1999 Table 3.4 Internet Users and Population in Taiwan 2004-2016 119 Table 4.1 Major social movements in 2008 – 2016 128 Table 4.2 Keyword density report for protesters’ statement 154 Table 5.1 Introduction Movement under Ma Ying-Jeou’s Second 180 Term (2012 – 2016) Table 5.2 Taiwan in Freedom House report- 2008-2015 196 Table 6.1 Public opinion surveys on the Sunflower Movement 242 Table 6.2 Money spent on campaign advertisement on traditional 265 media outlets- TV List of Pictures Picture 3.1 Freedom House’s profile report for Taiwan 83 Picture 4.1 Snapshot of a news clip on YouTube 132 Picture 4.2 Snapshot of the official blog of the Wild Strawberries 134 Movement Picture 4.3 Snapshot of the official site of the National Youth Alliance 139 Against KuoKuang Petrochemical Project Picture 4.4 Internet-based platforms used by National Youth Alliance 143 Against KuoKuang Petrochemical Picture 4.5 Word Cloud tab (exported from NVivo) 150 Picture 5.1 A snapshot of the Facebook page of “901 Anti-Media 176 Monopoly Movement” Picture 5.2 Template for Anti-Media Monopoly Campaign 177 Picture 5.3 A snapshot of the official blog of Citizen 1985 187 Picture 5.4 Financial statement of Citizen 1985 (source: Citizen 1985 197 Blog) Picture 5.5 Snapshot of “lazy people pack” of Citizen 1985 216 Picture 6.1 Facebook event page of 330 Anti-CSSTA Rally 237 6 Acknowledgements My heartfelt gratitude goes to the best supervisor I could think of - Dr Peter Ferdinand - for his continued support throughout my study. I could not have made it without his guidance and supervision. I want to devote this thesis to my mother, Grace Hsu, for supporting my pursuit of an academic career and giving me unconditional support, both spiritually and financially. It is never easy to grow up in a single parent family. But it is truly a blessing when you have a mother who is willing to do anything for you so you can follow your aspiration without any hesitation. I also want to thank my husband, Ash, who has been with me throughout all the ups and downs since I started by PhD studies. From boyfriend to fiancé and then husband, whenever I felt lost or overwhelmed in the middle of my studies, he is always there for me. I also want to thank my interviewees for their insight, which contributed tremendously to my research, which I hope can help further the studies of democracy, and encourage more to join forces together to defend this hard-earned value. Lastly, I want thank many friends of mine and my proofreader, John Stephenson. Your support and generous help enriched this study, and kept me going so that I could complete the last stretch of this unforgettable and remarkable journey. 7 Declaration This thesis is submitted to the University of Warwick in support of my application for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It has been composed by myself and has not been submitted in any previous applications for any other degrees. Abstract This thesis attempts to explore how technology affects people’s behaviour in the public sphere. Particularly, at a time when information communication technologies (ICTs) are rapidly reshaping nearly every aspect of our everyday life, this study asks, has citizens’ civic engagement been affected as well? In addition, this study takes Taiwan, a third wave democracy in East Asia, as a case study, with the aim of demonstrating how Western liberal democratic values can be compatible with so- called “Asian values”, whilst at the same time analysing if and how the civic engagement of Taiwanese people has been affected by the rise of ICTs mentioned above. To make the research scope more focused, this study only focuses on civil society during the years of President Ma Ying-Jeou’s administration from 2008 to 2016. This study focuses on what ICTs have changed, and what these changes can tell us. The main research method deployed is qualitative analysis, which was supplemented by a series of semi-constructed interviews with people who played significant roles in one or more of the major social movements that took place during the Ma administration. The findings and analysis of this study identify the impacts of ICTs on citizens’ behaviour from three perspectives: (1) how do ICTs reshape and revolutionise the way citizens communicate with each other; (2) how do ICTs enable social movement and empower activists; and (3) how do ICTs reshape and redefine the notion of the 8 public and private spheres. In the information age, when technology has profoundly changed our social structure, it is important to continuously revisit people’s perception of their shared values of democracy, their political participation, and their role in a democracy. It is might be equally important to clarify that the idea of citizenship studied in this thesis is viewed more from a sociological perspective rather than a normative one. It is possible that such a changing perception may lead to further academic research on the normative definition of citizenship in future research. List of Abbreviations CDA: Critical discourse analysis CNA: Central News Agency CSSTA: Cross-Strait Service and Trade Agreement DPP: Democratic Progressive Party ECFA: Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement FTA: Free trade agreement GDP: Gross domestic product ICT(s): information and communication technology/technologies KMT: Kuomintang NGO: Non-profit organisation NPP: New Power Party NTU: National Taiwan University TFD: Taiwan Foundation for Democracy RSF: Reporters without Borders SMEs: Small and medium enterprises 9 1. Introduction It is said that ‘Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty’. That saying is more relevant now than ever. Only by taking collective action, can we ensure that democracy will continue to shape the future of our world. - President Tsai Ing-wen (2018)1 On 25 June 2018, President Tsai Ing-wen（蔡英文）of Taiwan was invited to deliver an opening address at an event celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD)2 in Taipei. In her remarks, President Tsai reflected on the past, present, and future of global democratisation with a bold statement, saying: “Democracy won the twentieth century.” The first female leader of Taiwan pointed out that the victory of democracy became evident when the end of the Cold War accelerated a third wave of democratisation, with a significant number of countries from Eastern Europe to Latin America, and from Asia to Africa, embracing the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.3 When the third wave of democratisation reached the shores of East Asia, Taiwan joined this trend and embarked on its journey of becoming the vibrant democracy it is today.