As a baritone sang Taiwan the Green and about 500 people gazed on, a green, blue and red flag with the characters "Republic of Taiwan" as it was raised slowly against the backdrop of the cinnamon-and-white Presidential Office yesterday to commemorate Taiwan's Independence Day, as recognized by pro-independence activists.
Organized by pro-independence stalwart Peter Wang (
September 8 should be set aside as "Taiwan's Independence Day" to mark Taiwan's de facto independence, since the date recalls Japan's signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, in which it relinquished its claim to Taiwan, Wang said yesterday, before the flag was raised.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The campaign organization set up a flag-raising platform on a truck that parked on Ketagalan Boulevard, and about 500 participants coming from Tainan, Hsinchu and Taichung gathered in front of the platform to attend the ritual. Most of the participants were Taiwan Solidarity Union supporters, although three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers also attended the event.
Gazing at the flag fluttering in the wind on the sunny day, five young women recited a declaration of Taiwan's independence in Hoklo, Hakka, Mandarin, Amis and English, while a Presbyterian Church minister said a prayer for Taiwan. The song Taiwan the Green was one of the event's theme songs, composed by musician Hsiao Tyzen (
"I think this ceremony is meaningful and young people should know this date that is significant for Taiwan's destiny," a 60 year-old old woman from Tainan City said yesterday.
After the ceremony, Wang also announced an agenda for Taiwan's independence movement, saying that the alliance would unveil the Constitution of the Republic of Taiwan in 2007 and call on 3 million people to endorse the content of the new constitution on Feb.28, 2008. Pro-independence groups will request the new president in 2008 to promulgate the new constitution. A flag-raising ceremony will be held again on Sept. 8 in 2008, and 8,000 young people will take the new constitution and parade around the UN in the US to appeal for Taiwan to become a member of the world body.
"Hopefully the flag of Republic of Taiwan will actually rise above the Presidential Office in 2008," Wang said.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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