A drive by Taiwanese-Americans to make other Americans aware of the 228 Incident and promote Taiwanese independence was set to come to Capitol Hill yesterday, as dozens of organizations made last minute preparations for a memorial service in a House office building.
The service, which was expected to attract a number of congressmen, and a press conference before it, were the culmination of a 240km walk/run from Philadelphia, the home of US independence, to Washington by 25 Taiwanese-Americans from all over the country.
Along the route, tired but enthusiastic marchers distributed copies of a manifesto they were planing to unveil in Washington. It called on US citizens to learn about the 228 Incident, urged US President George W. Bush and Congress to help safeguard Taiwan's democracy, called for Taiwanese membership of the UN and demanded that China "renounce its territorial claims over Taiwan."
Remember
In their proclamation, the marchers "implore the citizens of this great nation to learn the truth of the 228 massacre, so that those who perished 60 years ago shall not have died in vain and Americans can help prevent such history from repeating itself."
"We want the world to know that the Taiwanese want our own future," said marcher Nora Tsay (葉寶桂), a past president of the North American Taiwanese Women's Association. "Though we are all Taiwanese-Americans, we are deeply concerned about the future of Taiwan, and because of the 228 Incident, the massacre of Feb. 28, we want the world to know that this kind of tragedy could happen again, and that we do not want to see it happen."
After arriving at the University of Maryland on Monday evening, the group spent Tuesday visiting congressional offices and seeing congressmen and their aides.
Those they met were very supportive, said Michael Yeun (
"They seem to be able to understand the [228] situation," he said.
Joining the walk/run was Liu Chin-chen (劉金城), known as "The Forrest Gump of Taiwan," after the US book and movie. Liu gained fame by running barefoot around Taiwan in support of democracy.
Fellow marchers said that Liu, 66, ran a full 40km through heavy snow in Delaware. It was the first time Liu had been to the US and the first time he had seen snow, said Susan Chang (
Underdressed
This time around, Liu wore shoes. But, not knowing much about US weather, he also wore shorts. He vowed to wear warmer clothing next time, Chang said.
Another marcher was Kathy Li, who holds the Taiwanese record for the 1,500m, which she set in 1975. She also won three gold medals at the 1975 Asian track championships in Korea, but was denied a shot at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal when the then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government rejected China's demand that the name "Taiwan" not be used.
"This is my opportunity to wear the name `Taiwan' on my shirt and to represent Taiwan. Going forward, we should use the Taiwan name on everything. And we want Taiwan to be an independent country," Li told the Taipei Times.
A high point of the march came in Philadelphia when more than 300 Taiwanese-Americans gathered next to the Liberty Bell to proclaim Taiwan's cause through a rally and commemorative service.
The assemblage marched the first 5km symbolically and then dispersed, as the 24 core marchers continued on to Washington.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
RSS