Taiwan’s “Techno Prince,” along with more than 300 Taiwanese expatriates and students in the UK, ran and danced in the rain to show support for the Taiwanese Olympic team in London on Sunday.
The expats and students gathered near London Zoo before a 100m run and later danced to electronic music along with the “Techno Prince” — a modern version of an ancient Taoist deity, who dances to electronic music and is a fusion of Taiwanese pop culture and traditional folk arts.
Some of the participants showed up with their faces painted in red, white and blue — the colors of the Republic of China (ROC) flag — and some were draped in the ROC flag, while others hoisted the national flag on Regent Street, one of London’s most popular shopping districts.
Photo: CNA
After the event, the “Techno Prince” and the crowd of expats headed further down Regent Street, where a controversy recently unfolded over the display of national flags of the countries taking part in the Olympics.
The ROC flag had been included in a display of 206 national flags celebrating the Olympics, but was later taken down and replaced with the flag of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee.
“We are Taiwan, don’t call us Chinese Taipei,” chanted the group as they raised the national flag and sang the ROC national anthem.
The man behind the “Techno Prince” costume, National Taipei University student Wu Chien-heng, said on his Facebook page that he was “very happy to unite Taiwanese abroad with the event” and encouraged people to “do something for Taiwan.”
To increase Taiwan’s visibility worldwide, Wu has traveled since the past year in his “Techno Prince” costume to a number of countries, including India, Egypt, Kenya, Thailand, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and the US.
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