Thousands of protesters against Taiwan parliament reform gathered earlier in May .

Tens of thousands of supporters of Taiwan’s ruling party are expected to gather outside parliament on Friday after it pushed ahead with a hugely controversial “contempt of parliament” bill.

The opposition Kuomintang party (KMT) says the new law is badly needed to redress the power imbalance between the legislature and Taiwan’s very powerful presidency.

But the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says it’s an unconstitutional power grab, aimed at taking revenge on the DPP government led by President William Lai Ching-te.

The bill will give Taiwan’s parliament more power to interrogate and investigate the executive – to subpoena government officials and private individuals, which could force them to hand over sensitive documents to lawmakers.

It also introduces a “contempt of legislature” clause which can impose fines and even a prison term of up to one year for officials who disrespect parliament. The last clause has been heavily criticised by legal scholars, who say it goes far beyond what is normal in other democratic countries.

When the bill was first introduced in May, huge protests sprang to life on the streets of Taipei as tens of thousands surrounded parliament for days. But there was a lull when it went to Mr Lai’s office for approval.

Mr Lai returned the bill to parliament for review and it passed again, this time fairly quickly – with the support of a fragile coalition of the KMT, the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and independents.

But the DPP has been calling for its supports to turn up, even if it’s only a symbolic show of their opposition to the bill. The KMT staged a counter-protest on Friday, but the numbers – in their hundreds - were lower than those the DPP drew last month.

The protests, however, have come to reflect a deep political rift in Taiwan, between supporters of the DPP and the KMT.

For decades, KMT, the party of the Chinese nationalists, ruled Taiwan with an iron fist, brutally suppressing all calls for democracy or independence – many of the older DPP leaders were jailed for being radicals. Now the two parties vie for power through the ballot box. But the old suspicions are now fuelling gridlock in parliament.

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It’s only one month since President Lai was inaugurated, but already the lack of a majority in a divided parliament means his prospects of getting anything substantial done during his first term are looking bleak.

On the streets outside the legislature there is genuine concern about what’s going on inside. The thousands of DPP supporters appear to believe the contempt of parliament bill is an attempted legislative coup d’etat .

“The process is very unjust and has skipped any substantial discussion”, says 33-year-old Powei Chang. “The bill itself is very dangerous and lacks clear definition. It is basically a way for legislators to expand their powers without the consent of the people.”

The fact that the legislators in question have a parliamentary majority is not good enough for Mr Chang.

The people who have been surrounding parliament are from a cross-section of Taiwan society: young and old, students, professionals, blue-collar workers. They sit patiently on rows of plastic stools. On a make-shift stage, a steady procession of activists take the microphone to decry what is going on inside the chamber.

In May, when a huge afternoon thundershower washed over the city, organisers handed out plastic ponchos, and the better-prepared raised a forest of umbrellas. No-one left.

They are unified by two things: a strong sense of Taiwanese identity and a deep distrust of the motives of the opposition KMT.

“I think what's happening in Taiwan today is something the people need to stand up against,” says a young woman named Eden Hsu. “We can't let those who are trying to sell out Taiwan think they can do whatever they want without opposition.”

Sell out Taiwan to who? To China.

“Many provisions of the bill seem influenced by the Chinese Communist Party,” she says. “The Chinese Communist Party plans to… infiltrate Taiwan using both internal and external support.”

This is a sentiment that is repeated to you over and over, on the street and from activists on stage. There is a broadly-held belief among those opposing the bill that the KMT leadership is now firmly in the pocket of Beijing.

Asked for evidence, protesters and activists alike point to the frequent visits senior KMT politicians make to China. Prime among them is Taiwan’s ageing former KMT President Ma Ying-jeou. In the last six months he has made two trips to China. In April he was warmly welcomed to Beijing by President Xi Jinping himself, who has steadfastly refused any dialogue with Mr Lai or his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen.

One well known DPP politician describes ex-president Ma as Beijing’s “most important political asset” in Taiwan.

Others who are seen as being “very close to Beijing” include the KMT Speaker Han Kuo-yu, who DPP supporters often derisively describe as “the Korean Fish”, a homonym on his name in Chinese.

“He is not really blue [the colour of the KMT party flag],” one DPP politician says. “He’s red [(the colour of the communist party flag].”

Another accused of being “red” is the man in charge of pushing through the “contempt of legislature” bill, KMT caucus leader Fu Kun-chi. Mr Fu is a powerful power broker with a controversial past, including a spell in prison following a conviction for insider stock dealing and concocting a fraudulent divorce. He too is a frequent visitor to China.

All of this is useful grist to the rumour and innuendo mill. But it is not evidence of collusion between senior KMT leaders and Beijing. Indeed, the KMT leadership has been loudly protesting its innocence and pointing to its long history of opposing the Chinese communist party.

“I have more reason than the DPP to hate Beijing,” says Alexander Huang the head of KMT’s international department. “The whole idea [of the bill] is to make the executive more accountable – that’s it.”

But when the KMT controlled the presidency and legislature between 2008 and 2016 it resisted opposition demands to pass a very similar law – the DPP, then on the other side of the aisle, was pushing for it.

The KMT has also suggested it might begin investigating DPP leaders once the bill becomes law.

“For eight years the DPP had a super majority. They could get whatever they wanted. Executive and legislature in coalition to enjoy the resources of Taiwan,” Mr Huang says.

Asked for evidence, Mr Huang points to Taiwan’s Covid-19 vaccine program. He alleges the DPP government handed tens of millions of dollars to a handful of pharmaceutical companies, none of which managed to develop an effective vaccine.

“That money is gone, but we don’t have a vaccine,” he says. “So, is there anything under the carpet? Can we look at it? the DPP says no.”

The DPP has denied all allegations of wrongdoing. And its supporters say these accusations are baseless, and a repeat of the prosecution of former DPP President Chen Shui-bian, who was convicted of bribery after he left office in 2008.

Now they fear this bill could be used to unleash a string of investigations to cripple Mr Lai’s administration.

Beyond the political divide, Taiwan faces a bigger threat in the shape of China. But many worry that its parliament and executive look set to spend the next four years attempting to hurt each other.

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Taiwan’s Lai Says Foreign Investors Worried by KMT-Backed Law

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said companies and foreign chambers of commerce had expressed concern at controversial legal changes giving lawmakers more powers to probe, summon and question corporate and government officials.

Lai has signed the legislation and is referring it to the island’s Constitutional Court for review, his office said in a statement Monday. Lawmakers passed the bills in late May and on Friday June 21 rejected his request for them to reconsider them.

Lai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party won its third successive presidential election this year but lost its majority in parliament, where the opposition Kuomintang and its Taiwan People’s Party allies used their narrow majority to push through the legal changes. The KMT say they want to improve scrutiny of the presidency, but critics say the laws represent a power grab and raise questions about the handling of sensitive information.

“The new investigative power has been extended to the military, private entities, and relevant members of society, and we’ve received a lot of international concerns from companies and foreign chambers of commerce,” Lai told reporters. “We’re worried that the implementation of the law will not protect commercial secrets of enterprises, and will affect Taiwan’s international competitiveness.”

Lai said that’s one reason that the Presidential Office has proposed that the Constitutional Court review the legislation.

The KMT has downplayed suggestions that any hearings could be a threat. Its caucus has said only companies colluding with the government would be summoned by the lawmakers.

Because the changes allow lawmakers to summon executives, DPP legislator Puma Shen has said that may lead to companies being probed to disclose trade secrets. The most sensitive company is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which makes the bulk of the world’s most advanced chips.

Before the May passage of the legislation, the island’s new science and technology minister, Wu Cheng-wen, directly addressed the importance of safeguarding the island’s proprietary advanced technology.

“When TSMC promises advanced manufacturing technology overseas, it is still building that first in Taiwan,” Wu said at his first press conference.

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Taiwan president seeks to overturn controversial reform

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te signed into law on Monday a controversial reform expanding parliament's powers, but vowed to seek a ruling from the island's top court to try to overturn it.

Proponents of the expansion say it is needed to curb corruption, but critics fear the laws could weaken self-ruled Taiwan's democracy against the influence of China -- which claims the island as part of its territory.

Taiwan's president is part of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which advocates for the island's sovereignty. But it lost the parliamentary majority in January elections, spelling trouble for his administration.

The reform bills passed last month had sparked massive protests on the island.

"The parliament should reform, but it should not arbitrarily expand its powers. The way to reform should be legal and constitutional," Lai said Monday.

"Today, I have made the decision to petition for a constitutional interpretation... This is to be responsible to the country and to history, and to live up to the trust of the people," he told journalists.

Lai's announcement came after lawmakers last week rejected the cabinet's request to reconsider the bills, leaving petitioning for a constitutional ruling the last resort the stop the new laws from being enforced.

The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party and Taiwan People's Party have argued that the expanded parliamentary powers are needed to curb corruption.

The KMT, regarded as pro-Beijing, called on Lai Monday to "bravely face the parliament and face the people" rather than seek to block the legislation.

The most controversial part of the reform is criminalising "contempt of parliament" by government officials, who could face jail term and fine for lying during legislative hearings.

The new legislation also allows parliament to exercise its "power of investigation", requiring government agencies, military units, private companies and relevant individuals to provide information.

Lai warned Monday both local and international business leaders have expressed concerns that their "trade secrets" could be jeopardised under the new laws.

The president said the laws will have a significant impact on "Taiwan's future international competitiveness" as they will deter foreign investors.

"I will not allow changes in the business environment to impact Taiwan's long-term economic development."

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