经过台湾的民主政治洗礼后，相信大家一定学到一课：
凡对台湾媒体引用外国报导或采访外国人有疑虑时必查证原文
就当作练习英文嘛，免得别人都笑我们懒
今天要讨论的即为此则新闻：
台湾学生遭血腥镇压 美期刊：伤害民主
NOWnews 2014年 03月 26日 16:25
http://www.nownews.com/n/2014/03/26/1166020
社会中心／台北报导
针对台湾反黑箱服贸学生遭警方血腥镇压，目前已成为国际瞩目焦点，在今（26）日
最新出刊的美国新闻期刊《太平洋标准》（Pacific Standard）报导指出，台湾学生
遭到血腥镇压已经形成一股伤害民主的效应，未来恐怕会扩散至全亚洲，成为独裁政
权宣示正当性的样本。
美国史丹佛大学“台湾民主计画”（Taiwan Democracy Project）负责人坦波曼
（Kharis Templeman）在采访中表示：“台湾被华语世界认为是民主进步国家。”
但台湾目前的占领行动的情势却正好可以让香港保守派人士有机会批评：“民主
代表着混乱，连学生都可以占领立法院，如果有太多民主权利，制度将会崩解。”
而坦波曼还指出：“泰国才刚刚发生政变。中上阶层正鼓吹一股非民主的浪潮。还
有土耳其，总理在清除司法以及军方势力，现在也越来越倾向于独裁统治。”
而报导文末也指出，“许多台湾人民都以拥有民主政府为傲，视为这是台湾与大陆
政府最大的不同，但在反服贸协议抗争中，不断有年轻抗争群众遭到警方殴打血流
满面的照片，透过网络不断传出，台湾民主的粉红梦幻正逐渐在消失当中。”
___________________________________
先简单说说我个人评论：
1. NOWnews标题杀人。姑且不论“血腥镇压”一词是否过度强烈，原文中所谓的
“伤害民主”非特指台湾，而着重于对亚洲其他国家民主发展有负面示范。
2. 原文内其实有几个小毛病，恐怕政府或学运双方都需要去向这间美国期刊反应
以澄清。我在下方原文有上色：
2a 原文中说警方有用催泪瓦斯。
2b 原文用革命一词称呼太阳花学运。
2c 原文提到约150人受伤，但没说清楚这数字是包含警民双方。
3. 读者可自行对照看看，判断NOWnews翻译是否有其余不妥之处。
该新闻引述美国期刊报导原文如下：
http://www.psmag.com/navigation/politics-and-law/asia-watches-taiwans-
democracy-falters-77424/
缩网址：http://0rz.tw/JvvSR
Asia Watches as Taiwan's Democracy Falters
By Bettina Chang March 25, 2014 12:26 PM
Student protests in one of Asia’s most stable democracies are facing violent
police crackdown. The effects could echo throughout the region.
Thousands of protesters in Taiwan have been occupying the country’s
legislature for a week now, demanding that the ruling party retracts a trade
deal with China, which they say was negotiated behind closed doors and pushed
through the legislature.
The situation escalated on Sunday when a few hundred protesters broke into
another government building and were forcibly removed by riot police with
water cannons, wooden clubs, and tear gas. Reports put the
number of people injured around 150, in addition to about 60 arrests.
The movement, known as the Sunflower Revolution (named after its intent to
provide sunlight and transparency), is composed of mostly college students,
along with some civil activists and professors, among others. They claim
the ruling party has side-stepped legislative processes and is ignoring the
people’s desire to stay out of the trade pact with China. Taiwan president
Ma Ying-jeou and his party say the agreement will improve the economy,
provide more jobs, and ensure Taiwan does not fall behind regional trade
competitors like South Korea.
While the domestic debate has been about executive abuse of power and
China-Taiwan relations, political experts think there is much more at stake
for democracy in the region.
“Taiwan is looked to among the Chinese-speaking world as the place where
democracy is in action,” says Kharis Templeman, program manager for the
Taiwan Democracy Project at Stanford University.
Despite being a young democracy, Taiwan’s is one of the strongest in the
region. “It has freedom of speech and assembly, elections are vibrant and
competitive, it has gone through two changes of ruling parties through
elections, and it’s enjoyed a very peaceful democratization,” says
Dafydd Fell, deputy director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at University
of London. “The most important asset in Taiwan’s international diplomacy
or ‘soft power’ is its democracy.”
This status means that political events in Taiwan are watched closely by
neighboring countries. “In Hong Kong now, especially, there’s a big debate
about whether or not Hong Kong is ready for direct elections and full
democracy,” Templeman says. ”The conservatives on that side of the debate
point at Taiwan and say: ‘Democracy means chaos. Even students are occupying
the legislature. If you have too much democracy, things will break down.’”
On social media, support for the protesters has come from around the world,
especially Hong Kong. But while Fell says that Hong Kong has much admiration
for Taiwan’s achievements in democratization, he doesn’t see the Taiwanese
protests as a spark for regional protests a la the Arab Spring.
The protests have special significance to observers in mainland China, where
reaction has been mixed. Others in Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and
even Turkey are likely keeping an eye on Taiwan, as well.
“Thailand just had a coup,” Templeman says. “The middle- and
upper-classmen are using language that is strikingly non-democratic.
And in Turkey, the prime minister has cleared people from the judiciary
and military. It’s looking increasingly autocratic.”
Entangled in Taiwan’s democratic crisis is the looming specter of Chinese
political and economic control. “Signing a trade deal with China is quite
different from Singapore or New Zealand,” Fell says. “China does not
disguise the fact that it uses economic measures to promote unification.”
Many Taiwanese take pride in their democratic government, seeing it as a way
to distinguish themselves from their mainland counterparts. But as fighting
over the fate of the China trade pact continues, and photos of young
protesters bloodied by riot police are shared across the Internet, the
rose-colored appeal of Taiwan’s democracy begins to fade away.