“Happy Birthday, Republic of China (ROC)” was displayed in red, white and blue colors on Ketagalan Boulevard as thousands of students lifted the curtain on the Double Ten national day celebrations yesterday.
The government expanded the scope of the celebrations this year after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regained power in May, filling the ceremony with patriotic songs, dances and parades and attracting tens of thousands of overseas Taiwanese to return to the country and celebrate the nation’s birthday.
The Presidential Office and the nearby area were decorated in red with placards reading “Celebrating the birthday of the ROC” hung on the facade, displaying the nation’s official name again on Double Ten day after the former Democratic Progressive Party government decorated the building with slogans promoting Taiwan’s bid to join the UN last year.
PHOTO: WALLY SANTANA, AP
Before President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) addressed the ceremony, 62-year-old actor Johnny Lin (林宗仁), whose performance in the box-office hit Cape No. 7 (海角七號) as “Uncle Mao” made him a star, won a large round of applause from the audience as he played the moon guitar, a four-stringed musical instrument, and lightened the mood by swapping jokes with the other performers.
Ma arrived with first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) shortly after 10am, made a speech and led the participating guests in the chants “Long live Taiwan Democracy” and “Long live the ROC.”
Seven attack aircraft from the Air Force’s Thunder Tiger aerobatic team flew over the Presidential Office following Ma’s speech, closely followed by a motorcycle fleet of military police saluting the president.
Pan-blue heavyweights, including KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), attended the ceremony, while DPP politicians were absent.
A small group of protesters from the anti-Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) campaign, led by Chinese Unity Promotion Party chairman Lin Cheng-chieh (林正杰), held a small-scale demonstration on Hengyang Road, urging Ma to finish the investigation into the former president and his family members’ alleged money-laundering and to imprison Chen as soon as possible.
“Toughen up, President Ma. Put Chen Shui-bian in jail,” they shouted.
To prevent any protests and clashes, thousands of police were deployed around the area yesterday, with tight security checks at every intersection surrounding the Presidential Office. The strict measures were not appreciated by everyone.
“It’s our country’s birthday, so why can’t the people go to the ceremony and celebrate national day as well?” a middle-age man, who was stopped outside the ceremony, shouted at police.
The three-hour ceremony proceeded smoothly under clear skies, but several guards and students fainted because of the heat.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man