The organizers of the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally yesterday launched a book and VCD documenting the spectacle of the world's longest human chain, which attracted nearly 2 million people across the country in protest against China's missile threat.
The book Hand-in-Hand to Protect Taiwan (
Ruan Ming (
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
The rally, he said, was also the cornerstone for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Ruan said the rally not only demonstrated a rejection of the "one China" principle, but also prevented the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party alliance, which identifies with the "one China" principle, from gaining power.
Poet Lee Ming-yung (李敏勇) said the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally was an artful demonstration which encapsulated the passion of Taiwanese people.
The rally, which took its name from the infamous 228 Incident in 1947 in which tens of thousands of Taiwanese were slaughtered by KMT forces, represented the transformation of sorrow from the 228 Incident into the courage to recognize this part of history, Lee said.
"For a very long time during KMT rule, the Taiwanese people were told to forget history out of political considerations. The success of the 228 human-chain rally symbolizes the people's courage in seeking and confirming the importance of history," Lee said.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a