A throng of pro-China demonstrators gathered outside the Ministry of the Interior yesterday to demand that the government designate Retrocession Day as a national holiday.
Retrocession Day celebrates the end of the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan on Oct. 25, 1945, as well as the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), and is observed by Chinese worldwide.
"We need to remind the government of the importance of Retrocession Day -- of the more than 30 million Chinese who died at the hands of the Japanese military in China, and of the many who suffered under Japanese colonial rule here in Taiwan," said Tang Shu (
PHOTO: YU HSUEH-LAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Retrocession Day used to be a national holiday, but has not been observed since 2001 as the government has instead pushed for two-day weekends.
Luo Su-chuan (
Maggie Cheng (
"But we're not associated with the current anti-President Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] campaign," Cheng added, despite the fact that numerous protesters wore "Depose Chen" baseball caps.
Shu, meanwhile, denounced Chen for not enshrining a holiday that was important to ethnic Chinese, adding that the US was pitting the Taiwanese and Chinese against each other to maintain its own hegemonic interests and a lucrative trade in weapons to Taiwan.
"The Americans don't like symbols of cross-strait unification such as Retrocession Day because they need to promote cross-strait enmity in order to sell their weapons," Tang said.
Tang added that although China has deployed more than 800 ballistic missiles on the east coast, "very few of the missiles actually target Taiwan."
Although the US was frustrated with a long-stalled arms package in the Legislative Yuan, US arms dealers were scrambling to sell other weapons to the country, Tang said.
Meanwhile, on a related issue, the Taiwan Society last night held an indoor rally in Kaohsiung to expand the "local culture movement," an event that the organizer hoped would counter the "misconceptions" about local culture and national identity created by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "colonial culture" in the post-World War II period.
Yang Wen-chia (
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS