More than 1 million people are expected to join hands in an island-long human chain today as a peaceful means of protest against China's military threat.
Organizers of the "228 Hand-in-Hand Rally" yesterday encouraged more people to come out in support of the event in the hope that this display of people-power would focus international attention on Taiwan's precarious relations with China, which has 496 missiles aimed at the country.
The event was originally aimed at bringing 1 million people together to form a 500km-long human chain from Keelung County in the north to the southernmost tip of Pingtung County. Due to enormous public interest, more than 1 million people have signed up to take part and the length of the chain has been extended to nearly 600km.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The chain will primarily run along National Highway No. 1 and partially along Highways No. 3 and No. 5, from Hoping Island near Keelung to Pingtung's Oluanpi.
The participants are expected to join hands at 2:28pm today.
"Our history is about to be written by ourselves. We use the softest approach in the hope of producing the biggest shock to build up our confidence and demonstrate the will of the Taiwanese people in the hope of changing China's attitudes," said Annie Lee (李安妮), daughter of former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the national leader of the massive event.
Chief organizer Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂) yesterday called on people who have to work today to leave their offices for a minute and link hands with their colleagues outside. He said motorists should honk their horns to show their support.
Those who haven't yet signed up can just stop at any part of the designated route and join the line, Ng said, urging participants to bring cameras along.
The rally is a collaboration between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its partner, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), of which Lee is the founder, and is expected to bolster President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election bid.
Prominent members of the pan-green camp are expected to take part in today's rally. Chen and Lee will join the line in Miaoli County. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) will take part in Hsichih in Taipei County, and the first lady, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), and her daughter, son-in-law and grandson will be at Taipei's 228 Peace Memorial Park, together with Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Premier Yu Shyi-kun will join the chain in the middle in Changhua County, and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will take part in Kaohsiung City.
Also see story:
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS