A group of Hong Kongers studying in Kaohsiung on Saturday launched a helmet donation drive in support of anti-extradition bill protesters back home, and more than doubled their target of collecting 500 helmets within an hour, one of the organizers said yesterday.
Fooyin University senior Ariel Lam (林沛晞) said they wanted to do something after the protests in Hong Kong turned violent last week.
The protesters face a shortage of supplies, so she and her friends decided to collect second-hand helmets to offer protesters on the front lines better protection, Lam said.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Outlanders
Helmets are important because people clad in white shirts and police officers have hit protesters on the head, she said.
By the time the group had finished setting up their collection point in Kaohsiung at 4:30pm on Saturday, many people were already waiting in line to donate, she said.
They began accepting helmets at about 5pm and by 6pm they had 500 helmets, and by the time they closed the drive at 7:30pm they had collected more than 1,000, many of which were new, she said.
They also collected more than NT$100,000, which would go toward supporting the anti-extradition bill protests, she said.
Lam said she was touched by the enthusiasm of people in Kaohsiung and she had not expected so many people to donate.
They want to thank Kaohsiung residents for their generosity and support, as well as the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, formerly known as the Radical Wings, the New Power Party and other parties for helping promote Saturday’s event, she said.
A second drive was held on Sunday in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), with the aim of collecting 300 helmets.
The organizers are now looking for a way to send the helmets to Hong Kong, but they did not want to discuss the details to protect their peers, Lam said.
She hopes all Taiwanese can take in what is happening in Hong Kong, she said.
While some Taiwanese might question why Taiwan is at risk of ending up like Hong Kong, she hopes that when voting in next year’s presidential election, Taiwanese would not believe in Beijing’s “one country, two systems” arrangement or a pro-Beijing candidate, she added.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS