臺灣立法院上演全武行 陳光誠贊臺灣民主

Coffee flew, tears were shed, teeth latched onto flesh. Taiwan’s legislature was in full-on brawl on Tuesday over a number of controversial bills.

咖啡被打翻，有人哭泣，還有人張口咬人。週二，臺灣立法院因爲幾個法案引發的爭議又上演了全武行。

Taiwan has long been known for feisty and combative politics, to the extent that its lawmakers regularly get shout-outs on lists with names like “Six of the best parliamentary brawls from around the world” and even landed the mocking Ig Noble Peace Prize in 1995 . The difference on Tuesday was that visiting Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng was just in the other room, praising Taiwan’s democracy.

臺灣立法院長期以來一直因爲爭吵和打架出名，以至於臺灣的議員會經常出現在諸如“全球六大議會打架事件”的名單上，並在1995年獲得了頗具諷刺意味的搞笑諾貝爾和平獎(Ig Noble Peace Prize)。週二的不同之處在於，當時正在訪問臺灣的中國活動人士陳光誠就在另一個房間讚揚臺灣的民主。

It was an ironic moment for the blind political dissident, whose trip has otherwise been focused on tense subjects like China human-rights abuses, accusations of spyware on his electronics and his own contentious departure from New York University. Mr. Chen made worldwide headlines last May after a daring escape from home detention in China to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, sparking a diplomatic crisis that was eventually diffused when he was allowed to move to the U.S.

對於這名盲人異見人士來說，這一刻有些諷刺。除此之外，陳光誠的訪臺之旅一直專注於中國的人權問題、他的電子設備被安裝了間諜裝置的指控，以及其他本人離開紐約大學(New York University)引發的爭議等廣受關注的話題。今年5月，在大膽地逃脫了居家軟禁並逃到美國駐華使館之後，陳光誠成爲全球媒體關注的焦點。陳光誠的舉動引發了一場外交危機，在他被允許前往美國之後，這場危機最終化解。

While Mr. Chen said China should aspire toward Taiwan’s democratic openness, his visit to Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan was also a reminder that elected politics can be messy, especially for young democracies like Taiwan.

儘管陳光誠稱中國應該追求臺灣的民主開放，他的這次臺灣立法院之行也提醒人們，民選政治也可能是一片混亂，尤其是對於臺灣這樣的年輕民主政體而言。

The furor Tuesday revolved around controversial bills including a proposed revision to Taiwan’s capital gains tax on stock-market earnings and a cross-strait service trade agreement. Lawmakers from both sides wrestled for the podium, shoving and shouting, even as Mr. Chen held forth on the merits of democracy in a nearby chamber. One legislator bit another, according to local news reports.

週二的風波與一些引發爭議的法案有關，其中包括臺灣對股市盈利徵收資本利得稅的修訂法案，以及海峽兩岸服務貿易協議。兩黨立法委員爲爭奪講臺扭打在一起，相互推擠，大聲叫嚷。與此同時，陳光誠正在附近的一個會議廳裏談論民主的好處。據當地媒體報道，一名立委咬了另一名立委。

In the end, the ruling Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, passed its revised version of the capital-gains tax, with investors whose transactions total less than 1 billion New Taiwan dollars no longer taxed. Lawmakers also decided Tuesday that the cross-strait service trade agreement, which was signed last week by negotiators from Beijing and Taipei but requires approval of the legislature to take effect, will now require an article-by-article approval instead of the usual one-time vote on the whole thing.

最終，執政的國民黨通過了資本利得稅的修正案，這意味着交易總額低於10億新臺幣的投資者不再需要繳稅。立委們週二還決定，海峽兩岸服務貿易協定將需要逐個條款審批，而不是像往常那樣，對整個文本進行一次性的投票。該協議上週由北京和臺北的談判者簽署，但是需要立法院的批准才能生效。

Legislative violence has a long and storied history around the world. With a country’s governance at stake, tensions run high and lawmakers don’t always resolve their differences with words. Even now staid chambers like the U.S. Congress have had famous incidents, like Representative Preston Brooks’ beating of Senator Charles Sumner with a cane in 1856. But legislative brawls tend to be more common in young democracies, and Taiwan has had more than its fair share.

議會暴力在全球有着很長的歷史，並且有許多知名案例。由於事關一國治理，緊張情緒高漲，議員們並不能一直依靠語言來解決分歧。即使是目前非常沉穩的議會，如美國國會，也曾發生過一些有名的暴力事件。比如1856年，衆議員布魯克斯(Preston Brooks)用柺杖毆打了參議員薩姆納(Charles Sumner)。但是議會中發生爭吵的現象往往在年輕的民主政體中更常見，不過臺灣情況仍然超出了常規水平。

Mr. Chen said Taiwan’s democracy is maturing and he views the conflict as a natural part of the process.

陳光誠說，臺灣的民主正在逐漸走向成熟，他認爲衝突是這一過程中的正常現象。

“It’s still better to have shoving in the legislature than to have tanks rolling in the streets,” he said.

他說，在立法院裏推搡總比把坦克開上街要好。

Some in Taiwan were less optimistic, including the United Daily News, which said in an editorial Tuesday, “Today, many people no longer care what legislation the Legislative Yuan passes or does not pass, because they have lost faith in the professionalism of legislators.”

臺灣的有些人則不那麼樂觀，《聯合報》(United Daily News)週二在一篇評論文章中說，如今，許多人不再在乎立法院通過或否決了什麼法案，因爲他們已經對立委的專業性失去了信心。