About a million Taiwanese poured onto Taipei's streets to show their anger at China's "Anti-Secession" Law, as members of the foreign community marched along with the crowds yesterday to show their support, urging the international community to pay more attention to Taiwan.
Foreigners who work or study in Taiwan either alone or gathered together in a group, joined a rally in front of National Taiwan University (NTU) yesterday afternoon to voice their opposition to China's threat of using "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan.
Walking alone in the crowd with a placard in one hand, a miniature flag in another, and a T-shirt with the Chinese-language slogan "Helping Taiwan on behalf of the United States," Jake Stevenson, a 22-year-old American from Washington, said that the "Anti-Secession" Law was a childish move by the Chinese government.
PHOTO: MO YAN-CHIH
"Taiwan has enjoyed de facto independence for years. However, China chose to ignore that fact and passed the law," Stevenson said.
"This rally provides an excellent chance for the international community to understand Taiwan's situation more. It is important for the world to know this place and hear what the Taiwanese have to say about their future," Stevenson told the Taipei Times.
Stevenson came to Taiwan about three years ago to study Mandarin. Now a sophomore at NTU's department of political science, he said that he has always viewed Taiwan as an independent country.
"It'd be a pity if people cannot unite to express their resentment of the law because of their different party affiliations," he added.
Another US citizen, Cindy Wachowski, has been in Taiwan for two-and-a-half years. She also said that Taiwan is an independent country and that the international community should respect and admit this fact.
"Beijing has never ruled or controlled Taiwan. I see Taiwan as a real country which enjoys democracy, elects its own president and issues its own passports. I think China has made a ridiculous political step in passing the law," said Wachowski, who is an English teacher at Kang Chiao Elementary School in Sindian.
Sitting on the roadside watching the crowds move along the street, Wachowski said that she heard about the passage of the "Anti-Secession" Law when she was visiting Malaysia, and was puzzled about China's decision to threaten Taiwan's independence with the law.
"I think this is a unilateral and bad decision for China. At the same time, I feel amazed to see how many people in Taiwan are willing to participate in this rally and voice their support for their country," she said.
Among the crowds gathering in front of NTU's side entrance at Xinsheng S Road was a small contingent of foreigners with placards reading "Votes, not Missiles" and "Tibet, Tiananmen, Taiwan?"
Organized through the Web site forumosa.com, an online community designed to provide foreigners in Taiwan with information about the country and a means to communicate with each other, the group said that they came to show their support for the rally.
"China has made the wrong decision in the passage of the law. The legislation drew the people in Taiwan together and they've decided to bring attention to the international community with this rally," said one member in the group, who asked not to be named.
"We [the group] join the rally to show our support, that Taiwan should enjoy independence and that we don't want Taiwan to become a communist country," he told the Taipei Times.
Brian Rawnsley, a New Zealander who has been in Taiwan for six years and is currently an English teacher, said that China has made the wrong decision to threaten Taiwan with the law, and people should draw widespread international attention with the rally.
"China's `Anti-Secession' Law [authorizes] force and `non-peaceful means' against Taiwan. It [the law] feels like a shotgun targeting the people of Taiwan," Rawnsley said.
"The significance of the rally is to show the international community that it should be up to the people of Taiwan to decide their future," he said.
Two group members, who were both from South Africa, joined the rally to support Taiwan's determination to defend its peace and democracy, which they said was something their country had had to do years go.
"We [South Africans] know what it's like to fight for a democratic and independent country, and I hope that Taiwan can be independent of China," said Michelle, who has been in Taiwan for five years teaching English. She declined to give her last name.
Another English teacher, who came to Taiwan two years ago from South Africa, criticized China as being against everything modern and democratic.
"Passing this law is stupid. Taiwan has been independent for years, and China is like a little child asking Taiwan not to declare independence," he said, adding that he wished not to be named.
As the group started to march along with other protesters toward the final destination at Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office, Joseph Tonigian from the US stood across the road observing the march on the sidelines.
While declining to comment on the rally and the "Anti-Secession" Law, Tonigian said that preventing a war from happening is the most important thing in the cross-strait relationship.
"I feel that the cross-strait relationship had made some progress before the passage of the law, such as with the Lunar New Year charter flights. I think China should continue improving its relationship with Taiwan through peaceful measures," he said.
Canadian Bryan Ferguson, who marched along with the foreigners' group, agreed.
"Taiwan needs more exposure -- such as this rally -- to tell both China and the international community that peace is the only way to go," Ferguson said.
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
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS