Taiwanese promoting civil defense awareness and national unity in the face of China’s invasion threat set off from Tainan yesterday on the third day of a nine-day march from Kaohsiung to Taipei.
“Prepare for civil defense, protect Taiwan” activists shouted on the Tainan-Yunlin section of the march organized by the Kuma Civil Defense Education Association, a non-governmental organization (NGO) founded by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Puma Shen (沈伯洋).
“I hope that during this northward journey, more people and civil society organizations show their support so everyone hears the voices representing Taiwanese, that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country,” said an attendee, surnamed Hou (侯), who attended the full day’s journey on Sunday.
Photo: Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
More than 50 groups of advocates would join in stages to complete the 380km “Stand Up as Taiwan” march across 13 cities and counties, the group’s Web site said.
Largely following Provincial Highway 1 along Taiwan’s western half, the route uses train stations as relay points from the south to the north of the country.
The group expects about 1,000 people to gather at the event’s final stop at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei on Sunday.
Established in 2021, the Kuma Civil Defense Education Association aims to “prepare a pre-war mentality for civilians” and “cultivate self-defense capabilities and will to defend Taiwan,” the group’s Web site said.
Beijing, which has conducted large-scale air and naval exercises around Taiwan in recent years in apparent preparation for potential military action, has threatened people associated with the group.
In October, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office put the Taiwanese NGO on an official public list of “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.”
The group’s cofounder, Shen, and one of the group’s financiers, businessman Robert Tsao (曹興誠), were also denounced by China as “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists” — a crime potentially punishable by death according to court guidelines published by China in June.
Shen and Tsao also founded the Kuma Academy.
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