People rallied in Taipei yesterday to support US President Donald Trump and called for Taipei and Washington to normalize the relationship between the two nations.
The group held banners and shouted: “Support President Trump, protect Taiwan,” “Welcome Trump to visit Taiwan” and other slogans while waving US flags, along with green-and-white flags bearing an image of Taiwan and its outlying islands.
Organizers estimated that about 300 people attended the march.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
They set out on Ketagalan Boulevard and marched for several blocks before returning to the start point.
Many of the participants were Taiwanese independence advocates, members of civil groups or Taiwanese-Americans.
Among them was Philip Ong, who was dressed as Captain America.
Ong worked in the shipping business and had for many years lived in New York City.
“I am here to thank President Trump, because he has done so much for Taiwan in the past four years,” Ong said.
“Trump was strong and tough against communist China, and had worked to protect Taiwanese people from the hostile forces,” said Ong, who now lives in Taipei.
The event was organized by the Preparatory Office of Autonomous Formosa Detached Territory of Japan, the Taiwan Republic Office, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the Taiwan Independence Party.
The groups invited Trump to visit Taiwan and expressed their hope that formal Taiwan-US ties would be restored.
“Although the US Republican and Democratic parties are in agreement to back Taiwan on international issues, Taiwanese are very concerned that [US president-elect Joe] Biden’s family members have business interests in China,” Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said.
“We have seen Trump approve 11 arms procurement deals for Taiwan, and signed into law the Taiwan Travel Act, the Taiwan Assurance Act and other Taiwan-friendly legislation,” Chen said.
“Trump has incorporated Taiwan as a partner into the new US Indo-Pacific Strategy,” he said. “Taiwanese want to express our gratitude to him.”
“Formosans are close friends of America and Japan, and strong supporters of democratic progress for the Chinese,” said Michael Yeun (楊明昊), a Taiwanese-American who wrote the groups’ invitation letter to Trump.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Police today said they are stepping up patrols throughout the Taipei MRT system, after a social media user threatened to detonate a bomb at an unspecified station this afternoon. Although they strongly believe the threat to be unsubstantiated, Taipei Metro police and the Railway Police Bureau still said that security and patrols would be heightened through the system. Many copycat messages have been posted since Friday’s stabbing attacks at Taipei Main Station and near Zhongshan MRT Station that left three dead and 11 injured, police said. Last night, a Threads user in a post said they would detonate a bomb on the Taipei
RSS