A throng of pro-China demonstrators gathered outside the Ministry of the Interior yesterday to demand that the government designate Retrocession Day as a national holiday.
Retrocession Day celebrates the end of the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan on Oct. 25, 1945, as well as the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), and is observed by Chinese worldwide.
"We need to remind the government of the importance of Retrocession Day -- of the more than 30 million Chinese who died at the hands of the Japanese military in China, and of the many who suffered under Japanese colonial rule here in Taiwan," said Tang Shu (
PHOTO: YU HSUEH-LAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Retrocession Day used to be a national holiday, but has not been observed since 2001 as the government has instead pushed for two-day weekends.
Luo Su-chuan (
Maggie Cheng (
"But we're not associated with the current anti-President Chen Shui-bian [陳水扁] campaign," Cheng added, despite the fact that numerous protesters wore "Depose Chen" baseball caps.
Shu, meanwhile, denounced Chen for not enshrining a holiday that was important to ethnic Chinese, adding that the US was pitting the Taiwanese and Chinese against each other to maintain its own hegemonic interests and a lucrative trade in weapons to Taiwan.
"The Americans don't like symbols of cross-strait unification such as Retrocession Day because they need to promote cross-strait enmity in order to sell their weapons," Tang said.
Tang added that although China has deployed more than 800 ballistic missiles on the east coast, "very few of the missiles actually target Taiwan."
Although the US was frustrated with a long-stalled arms package in the Legislative Yuan, US arms dealers were scrambling to sell other weapons to the country, Tang said.
Meanwhile, on a related issue, the Taiwan Society last night held an indoor rally in Kaohsiung to expand the "local culture movement," an event that the organizer hoped would counter the "misconceptions" about local culture and national identity created by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "colonial culture" in the post-World War II period.
Yang Wen-chia (
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.