Members of the Taiwan Republic Office yesterday held a rally outside the cordoned-off area for the Double Ten National Day celebration in front of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, saying that Taiwan’s national holiday should instead be celebrated on Sept. 8.
On Sept. 8, 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, relinquishing its claim over the nation, the Taiwanese independence group said.
“Article 2 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty ... states that ‘Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores,’ so Taiwan was born on this day,” group director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said.
Taiwanese have spent decades demanding that the nation cannot use the “Republic of China” as its official names if it wants to develop normal bilateral relations with other countries, Chen said.
Taiwanese athletes have excelled at the Tokyo Olympics this year, but were forced to do so under the name “Chinese Taipei,” he said.
“If all Taiwanese put in their efforts, Taiwan can become a normal, independent and sovereign nation,” he said.
On Sept. 8, the group, along with other likeminded organizations, held a flag-raising ceremony on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building, calling on the government to change the date for Taiwan’s national holiday.
At the event, Free Taiwan Party chairman Lo Yi (羅宜) urged the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to remember that its founding idea was fighting for Taiwanese independence.
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