Five Taipei City councilors from across party lines yesterday urged Taiwanese to attend a Sept. 29 rally outside the Legislative Yuan to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The protests in the territory are entering their fourth month and Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), during a visit to Taiwan earlier this month, urged Taiwanese to rally in support of the territory’s democracy movement.
Dozens of groups, including the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy, are organizing the rally for the Sunday before Oct. 1, the People’s Republic of China’s national day.
Photo: Kuo An-chia, Taipei Times
New Power Party (NPP) city councilors Huang Yu-fen (黃郁芬), Lin Liang-chun (林亮君) and Lin Ying-meng (林穎孟); Social Democratic Party City Councilor Miao Po-ya (苗博雅); and independent City Councilor Chiu Wei-chieh (邱威傑), as well as NPP member Chen Yu-fan (陳雨凡), who is running for legislator in next year’s elections, urged the public to attend the rally to protect democracy in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Lin Liang-chun said that Hong Kong protesters have shown their persistence and perseverance over the past 100 days, which also lends support to Taiwan, so it is especially meaningful for Taiwan to hold the rally in support of the protests just before China’s national day.
Taiwan and Hong Kong are being pressured by Beijing, Chen said, adding that the rally would be a meaningful demonstration of the Taiwanese public’s determination to defend democracy, freedom and the rule of law.
The rally would not only show the protesters that Taiwanese support them, it could also show the international community that Taiwanese firmly defend freedom and democracy, Miao said.
Huang on Facebook said that democracy advocates Lee Ming-che (李明哲) and Morrison Lee (李孟居) are examples of the Chinese government arbitrarily detaining Taiwanese by claiming that they engaged in criminal activity harmful to national security.
Democracy, freedom and the rule of law are precious to Taiwan and Hong Kong, but are threatened by the Chinese government, she said, urging Taiwanese to attend the rally to urge the Hong Kong and Chinese governments not to infringe upon human rights and universal values.
The rally is scheduled to begin at 3pm on Jinan Road.
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