Shouting “Taiwan Republic! Taiwan Republic!” thousands of Taiwanese independence supporters gathered for a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office yesterday, using the group’s version of a Taiwanese national flag.
The crowd sang Taiwan the Green (台灣翠青), and waved flags and chanted slogans in favor of building a “Taiwan Republic.”
The event started with the declaration of a “Taiwan Republic Campaign” statement and a prayer for Taiwan before it proceeded to the flag-raising ceremony at 2:28pm. The time was chosen to mark the massacre that took place on Feb. 28, 1947, when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops suppressed a Taiwanese uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned.
PHOTO: CNA
Instead of the raising the Republic of China (ROC) flag, the campaign presented the crowd with a flag that featured a white background and the shape of Taiwan in green in the center, symbolizing Taiwan as a peaceful “maritime state.”
Peter Wang (王獻極), organizer of the annual rally and convener of “the 908 Taiwan Nation Movement,” said Taiwan needs to abolish the ROC Constitution, terminate the ROC system of government, write a new constitution for the Taiwan Republic and implement a new Taiwan Republic system of government.
Wang also criticized President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China polices, which he claimed risked selling out Taiwan.
Among the participants at the event were Taiwan Solidarity Union Secretary-General Lin Jhi-jia (林志嘉), chairman of the Taiwan Association of University Professors Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) and former Presidential Office policy adviser Chuang Po-lin (莊柏林).
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Taiwan has activated backup communications for its northernmost territory, the remote and strategically located island of Dongyin (東引), after poor weather conditions apparently shifted the wreckage of a ship onto an undersea cable causing it to break. The vulnerability of undersea communication cables linking Taiwan with its outlying islands has been a persistent cause of concern for Taipei, whose government has on several occasions blamed Chinese ships for intentionally causing damage. Dongyin, home to about 1,500 people, sits in a strategic position at the top of the Taiwan Strait and the island has a heavy military presence. It does not have an
RSS