ABSTRACT
What became Taiwan’s largest social movement in two decades began in a rather modest fashion. On the evening of 18 March 2014, about 200 to 300 protesters gathered around Taiwan’s parliament, the Legislative Yuan, in order to listen to speeches and concerts. The occasion for this gathering was a trade pact between China and Taiwan that had been rushed through a review committee the previous day. Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) had declared the review period for the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) to be over and passed the pact on to the plenary session of the Legislative Yuan, where, given the KMT’s firm majority at the time, it was expected to be ratified.
