The 14th Tsai Jui-yueh International Dance Festival is to begin tomorrow with a march around the Rose Historic Site (玫瑰古蹟) in Taipei to show support for ongoing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Federation, the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps and the Taiwan Friends of Uighurs are jointly organizing the festival.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Umbrella in a Red Typhoon,” which Taiwan Friends of Uighurs chairman Paul Lin (林保華) said suggests that China — the red typhoon — is “sticking its devil’s talons in all parts of the world,” with Hong Kong being the front line against this sharp red force and Taiwan being the second line of defense.
“Hong Kong people are bleeding now and Taiwanese might bleed in the future, too,” Lin said, calling for people to participate in the festival to “show our determination” to defend Taiwan’s democracy.
The air in Hong Kong is now filled with tear gas and Taiwan is at a critical juncture as January’s elections approach, corps executive director Yang Yueh-ching (楊月清) said, adding that both require Taiwanese to demonstrate courage to refuse threats on sovereignty by China.
The march is to begin tomorrow at the Rose Historic Site at 10am.
The festival is to feature five shows starting at 7:45pm on Friday, 3pm and 7:45pm on Saturday, and 3pm and 7:45pm on Sunday.
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