About 10,000 Taiwanese expatriates are expected to return to the country to celebrate the Double Ten national day, the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission said.
Commission Chairman Wu Yin-yih (吳英毅) said that more than 8,000 expats had signed up to attend National Day celebrations and predicted that the number could reach 10,000, the highest in the last eight years.
Last year’s celebrations attracted about 3,000 expats, Wu said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will deliver a National Day speech at the celebration rally in front of the Presidential Office next Friday and will lead the participants in chanting “Long Live the Republic of China” (ROC) and “Long Live Taiwanese Democracy,” Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said.
Ma said last week that this year’s celebrations were significant to the country and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) because it would be the first National Day since the party that had founded the ROC regained power after eight years.
The practice of the president addressing the National Day rally had been observed for years until former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) canceled his speech last year to avoid a repeat of the disturbance caused by his opponents during a speech he made on the same occasion in 2006.
Chen and his predecessor, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), have said they would not attend this year’s ceremony, Deputy Minister of the Interior Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) said a day earlier.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jyn-ping (王金平), who is also the chief organizer of the National Day Celebration Committee, said earlier this month that the budget for this year’s festivities was NT$45.09 million (US$1.48 million), including NT$11 million for a fireworks display.
The fireworks show will take place in Chiayi City and a party will be held in Hualien County in the evening. A military parade will not be part of this year’s program.
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