A crowd yesterday marched in Taipei to rally support for US President Donald Trump and show opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.
At the parade organized by Epoch Media Group — publisher of the Epoch Times and affiliated with Falun Gong — participants carried placards with slogans such as: “Taiwan-US cooperation, we support Trump to dispose communist China” and “Taiwan, Fight for Trump.”
Some signs echoed messages used by Trump supporters who believe he won the US election last month, with phrases such as: “Stop the Steal” and “Make America Great Again.”
Photo: Jason Pan, Taipei Times
Despite Trump’s claims of election fraud, the US Electoral College on Monday affirmed US president-elect Joe Biden’s victory, awarding him 306 electoral votes — more than the 270 needed to win — to Trump’s 232. The result still must be confirmed by a joint session of the US Congress on Jan. 6.
With drums and music, the march traveled several blocks around Taipei 101, ending at a nearby plaza, where talks and music videos were presented and streamed online.
Event organizers estimated that about 8,000 people turned out for the event.
“Without US protection, Taiwan would not have its freedom, and instead we would be slaves ruled by communist China. Trump is the best US president for Taiwan, signing laws to have officials visit and sell US weapons for us to fend off a Chinese military attack,” pro-Taiwan independence campaigner Rishen Wu (吳日昇) said at the march.
In the crowd, an American, who identified himself as Jerry, said he was touched to see so many Taiwanese at the rally.
“Trump knows what it takes to counter China’s military adventurism. He has done the most for Taiwan, safeguarding its freedom and democracy... For Biden, I am not so sure if he will defend Taiwan so strongly like Trump has done in recent years,” he said.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas,” the US military said yesterday, as tensions between China and Taiwan raise concerns in Washington. US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defense identification zone near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). The US military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which
STRATEGIC MISTAKE: Beijing’s deployment of aircraft near Taiwan proves the ‘China threat theory’ that sees it attempting to destabilize the region, an analyst said China on Saturday and yesterday sent a record number of military aircraft into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in what analysts said was an attempt to flex its military might for US President Joe Biden. Thirteen Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Saturday and 15 entered yesterday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. On Saturday, eight Xian H-6K bombers, four Shenyang J-16 fighters and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the ADIZ, while yesterday there were two Y-8s, two Su-30s, four J-16s, six J-10 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance
DISPOSING MYTHS: A new constitution would better reflect reality, as the current one was drafted ‘in and for China,’ without the consent of Taiwanese, advocates said Independence advocates yesterday launched the Taiwan New Constitution Alliance to promote drafting a new, localized constitution. “This is a historic moment for Taiwan. Drafting a new constitution is the most important task Taiwanese face,” veteran independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said at the inaugural event in Taipei. “Although the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, its authority is based on the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which has no connection to Taiwan,” said the 95-year-old Koo, a former presidential adviser. “The historic task of drafting a new constitution depends on efforts by all Taiwanese,” Koo said. “A constitution for a sovereign, independent Taiwan
RSS