A group of Taiwanese gathered in front of the ancient church of St Mary-le-Bow at the Lord Mayor’s Show in London on Nov. 11.
“Excuse me, what flag is that?” a curious spectator asked.
They were there, Republic of China (ROC) flags in hand, to see the country represented for the first time in the world’s oldest civic procession, which dates back more than 800 years. One reason for the Taiwanese participation was to make such questions less likely in the future.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Representative office to the UK
The Taiwanese expat community in the UK is small compared to many others in modern multi-cultural Britain, no more than 25,000 strong, a drop in the ocean of a total population of more than 60 million. However, numbers have swelled considerably with students who are following in the footsteps of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who earned a PhD at the prestigious London School of Economics in 1984.
BOOSTING TAIWAN’S PROFILE IN THE UK
With the overbearing influence of China and the usual confusion with Thailand to deal with, it’s hoped that the Taiwanese presence at Saturday’s event, watched by thousands who line the streets of the capital and millions more on television, will boost awareness of the community and the nation.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Representative office to the UK
Christina Tsai (蔡惠玉), along with five other members of the Manchester Taiwanese Association, made the journey from the north of England and donned three Techno Dancing Third-Prince (電音三太子) costumes. The outfits are based on the dress of Taoist gods with modern additions such as oversized sunglasses and LED lights.
They proved popular even before the event began. Having traveled south on Friday, they made the final part of their journey to the show on the metro, three of them in costume. The trio feature in many cell phone photos taken by bemused commuters.
For Tsai, who hails from Yilan County and has been in the UK for more than 20 years, the show provided a focus for expats and an opportunity to raise Taiwan’s profile in the wider community.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Representative office to the UK
“The atmosphere was great and we felt that being able to do something for Taiwan was a great honor,” Tsai says.
As well as wearing costumes, participants in the procession carried three giant balloons. One was branded by Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, and the other two featured a Formosan black bear and an EVA Air jumbo jet.
Ours Travel, the largest Taiwanese travel agent in the UK, EVA Air, the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau and the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC), which promotes exchanges between Taiwan and its overseas communities, all supported participants to the event.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Representative office to the UK
It’s hoped that Taiwan’s presence in this year’s show won’t be one-off, and that there will be other opportunities to put Taiwan on the map.
“In Europe the Taiwanese community is not that large compared with North America and I think participating in local large events is the best way to elevate our profile,” William Ku (徐文谷) of OCAC says. “I think it’s important to make the British realize that Taiwan is quite different to China. Many British people are surprised to hear that Taiwan is not part of China.”
Taiwanese expats are scattered across the UK and even London, which has Japanese and Korean enclaves, but no concentration of Taiwanese in any particular area.
The technology sector is the main source of employment, with logistics, import-export and the restaurant industry also important.
Students are likewise to be found in universities and colleges nationwide, with courses related to culture and film proving particularly attractive, as well as hard sciences.
LINKS
This year’s Lord Mayor’s Show reflects the burgeoning links between Britain and Taiwan.
The number of Taiwanese students studying in the UK reached 12,000 last year, while nearly 100,000 visited as tourists, with a similar number of Britons making the trip to Taiwan.
These figures are set for a boost when China Airlines introduces a non-stop Taipei-London service starting next month.
This story has been corrected since it was first published to fix the date of the Lord Mayor's Show.
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