Yesterday’s Double Ten National Day celebration in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei was heavy on diversity, heroes and military personnel compared with last year’s event.
A parade of “heroes of wind and rain” followed President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national day address, spotlighting those involved in disaster relief operations.
While not a full-scale military parade, the march featured a substantial number of military personnel and equipment compared with the brief military fly-over that followed former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) speech last year.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The cloudy skies over downtown Taipei were filled with the thunder of a steady line of helicopters from the military and Ministry of the Interior fleets, which were immediately followed by a drive-by by rows of camouflaged military vehicles carrying soldiers from disaster relief units, military logistics vehicles and other equipment.
Police motorcycles and fire trucks brought up the rear as audience members waved banners thanking service members.
Medal-winning athletes from the Rio de Janiero Olympic Games — weightlifters Hsu Shu-ching (許淑淨) and Kuo Hsing-chun (郭婞淳) and archers Lei Chien-ying (雷千瑩) and Lin Shih-chia (林詩嘉) — drew prolonged applause as they rode by in jeeps.
Photo: CNA
Baseball legend Chen Chin-feng (陳金鋒) led the singing of the national anthem along with members of Dongyuan Elementary School’s internationally recognized Little League baseball team.
The Ministry of National Defense’s Honor Guard and Joint Military Marching Band maintained their tradition of annual performances.
Another nod to tradition was the triple ceremonial bow to a portrait of Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) that was superimposed over the national flag.
Photo: Ritchie B Tongo, EPA
There was also the traditional address by an overseas Chinese representative, even as the nation’s ethnic diversity — as opposed to ethnic Han nationalism — received greater emphasis.
The opening act featured two bands performing songs in several languages: Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), Hakka, Puyuma and Mandarin Chinese.
The emphasis on diversity was also apparent in the coloring of the front stage, which was painted in a rainbow pattern rather than the traditional red, white and blue colors of the national flag.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
There were also several small changes, such as the hostesses who showed the dignitaries to their seats wearing different colored skirts instead of the traditional red qipao (旗袍) and the “national day hats” (國慶帽) worn by audience members, when seen from above, formed a mosaic depicting a Formosan black bear instead of the traditional ROC imagery.
A drive-past by Taoyuan borough wardens on zero-emission scooters, performances by the cheerleadering squads from baseball teams and students from several high schools and colleges rounded out the almost three-hour show.
Photo: CNA
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS