Taking their cue from France’s yellow vest movement, thousands of Taiwanese hit the streets in protest to make demands for lower taxes and a more equitable settlement of tax disputes.

Protesters decked out in yellow vests, carrying placards, as well as banners shouted slogans and blared air horns outside the Ministry of Finance in Taipei, the capital city, voicing their disgust over Taiwan’s tax policies and regulations.

Protesters posit a bleak future with the current tax system and complain that there is a massive gap in their wages in comparison to Hong Kong and mainland China.

“We look at wages in Hong Kong and mainland China. We want to know why there’s so much of a gap with Taiwan,” said one protester in a press report.

Protesters also express pessimism about starting a business given the high tax rates that impact negatively on small businesses.

The organizers are hoping that their demonstration may lead to a similar fate to that of their French counterpart where the French President Emmanuel Macron was forced to abandon planned tax hike for gasoline and diesel and increase the minimum salary for full-time workers as well as other measures.

“We saw Macron, and he wanted to soften up, so that gave us some encouragement to protest, so we hope the president here can hear our voices,” said Wang Chih-lan, in a press report.

Unlike the protest in France, however, where there were riots and at least ten deaths, the demonstration in Taipei has been mainly peaceful.

Readers Bureau

Edited by Jesus Chan

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