The 21st Nation-wide Referendum regarding lowering voting age from 20 to 18 will be held in Taiwan at 26th November.
Although there are fierce arguments and concerns from both sides, liberals and conservatives, regarding the pros and cons about amending the constitution for voting age, it will be decided by the referendum in the end.
Does US have referendums?
https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202204150024
Meanwhile in China recently, unfortunately there was an earthquake in Sichuan with 6.8 magnitude. Sadly, there are about 60 people died during the disaster.
Due to zero covid policy, nobody is allowed to leave their houses to avoid getting injured by the afterquake. It was enforced by police forces in sanitary suits.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-07/china-locked-down-chengdu-residents-not-a...
Excerpt from abc, slightly edited "Locked-down residents of the Chinese city of Chengdu have reacted angrily after security guards refused to allow them to leave their buildings or compounds during an earthquake.
Buildings in Chengdu and other parts of western China were shaken by the quake. No damage was reported in the city.
One video posted online shows angry residents gathered in a lobby confronting a government worker in full PPE and demanding to be allowed out.
Another shows a large group of people shouting behind a gate while a security guard on a megaphone says: "Let me ask you, has your building collapsed or not?"
"There is no other emergency situation except for COVID, is there?" residents said.
The user said their family ran down from the 9th floor to find the emergency doors on their building "nailed shut".
"They said if there are situations like that the government will make arrangements."
"I just want to ask if it is a more than 7-magnitude earthquake, and I wait for them, are they coming to collect my corpse?" the user posted."
This twitter video link below is showing the police are blocking or locked off the earthquake victims from leaving their residents. https://twitter.com/fangshimin/status/1566932768361107456?t=L_4spv3fuKZUTv4gBDBR...
Translation of the tweet,
"Earthquake is a small matter, Covid prevention is a big matter; Death due to earthquake doesn't really count as deaths: Luding, Sichuan was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, eventhough alarm has raised in Earthquake Alert Website, but since the doors on resident units are physically locked, residents can't evacuate themselves. Even if they managed to evacuate themselves out of their homes, they get blocked by police forces in sanitary suits at their home entrance, then get shoo'd off into their homes again. The earthquake has caused 46 lives, 16 missing, about 50 are injured. How many of the casualities were caused by lockdown like this?"
Even firefighters who came to rescue have to go through a long line of Covid test before starting their rescue operation. Video link below, https://twitter.com/wanjunxie/status/1566942185785888768?t=yFGuuiEGjwZgdiph0C2V4...
In order to defend the party interest, which is keep the Covid numbers low for their precious stock market, even residents have to be locked inside during earthquake, and firefighters have to waste their precious time on conducting covid tests.
I wonder if democratic systems like referendum and initiative exist in China, would CCP even dare to do these kinds of things?
Under Sun Yat Sen's ideology of democracy (Three Principles), he advocated China should adopt a democratic system better than European and American system, which he emphasizes that the system included election, recalling, initiative and referendum. And this system still actively practiced in Taiwan today.
Meanwhile in China, through intimidation and selective preference in the academia, his ideology has reinterpreted by the CCP to argue that the communist is a necessary conclusion of the Three Principles of the People and thus provide legitimacy for the communist government.