Taiwanese students and expatriates in 49 cities across 21 countries organized rallies timed to coincide with Sunday’s demonstration in Taipei, as part of a global networking campaign to support the “Sunflower student movement.”
Calling it “24-Hour Relay Across the Globe in Support of Taiwan,” the worldwide rallies saw Taiwanese and other participants shouting the same slogans as their counterparts in Taipei: “Protecting Taiwan’s Democracy,” and “Withdraw the Trade Deal,” which gained press coverage and wide circulation among online social media.
Some students held up placards that read: “Taiwan is not for sale,” “Transparency, Democracy and National Security for Taiwan” in support of the movement which started with protesters occupying the legislature in Taipei on March 18.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
The worldwide networking rally began in Australia and New Zealand on Sunday morning, with events in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and other locations.
The international relay proceeded through the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukuoka, South Korea’s Seoul and Busan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and other Asian countries.
Hong Kong organizers said the protesters received an enthusiastic response, with more than 1,000 people joining the rally.
Photo: CNA
After some speeches, they marched from Causeway Bay to the Charter Garden next to the Legislative Council building.
As the day progressed, Taiwanese in Europe joined the global effort, with notable rallies in Berlin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Madrid and Stockholm.
The relay culminated in North America, with US events taking place in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and other cities, as well as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.
More than 100 Taiwanese students and Taiwanese-Americans gathered in front of Washington’s Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.
Despite the freezing rain and subzero temperatures, they performed street theater skits, handed out sunflowers to passersby and delivered a petition to the office.
Washington organizer Chao Tse-hua (趙澤華) said he is a student at Pennsylvania State University.
“We drove four hours from Pennsylvania to DC. We just want those students in Taiwan fighting for democracy to know that people abroad support their cause,” Chao said.
In New York City’s Times Square, about 400 people joined a mass sing-along and conveyed their messages in slogans, while holding sunflowers.
In the UK, more than 300 students and overseas Taiwanese headed to Trafalgar Square in London. They presented musical entertainment to the audience and vocalized their support of the Sunflower movement.
The event in Berlin took place at Alexanderplatz, a public square and transport hub, and was organized by Taiwanese university students.
Calling themselves the “3.30 Berlin Action Group,” organizers said more than 300 people joined in their rally, with a series of public discussions and lectures on the cross-strait agreement, the pros and cons of free trade, Taiwan’s human rights situation and its democratic governance system.
The largest event in Japan was held at Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, where more than 700 people joined a rally.
Taiwanese students and expatriates in Tokyo were joined by their Japanese friends to call for the withdrawal of the cross-strait pact, shouting slogans in support of the Sunflower movement.
Additional reporting by Tsao Yu-fen, Hu Hui-ning and Chang Mao-shen
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS