About 500 members of the Taiwanese-Canadian community gathered on Sunday for the first-ever “Taiwan Day,” as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-2 at a sold-out Rogers Center.
The attendees traveled from across Canada, wearing “Taiwan Day” jerseys and waving “Team Taiwan” towels, as they cheered the Jays to their third straight home win among about 42,000 fans.
The event was organized by the Taiwan Merchants Association of Toronto and sponsored by local Taiwanese businesses.
Photo: CNA
Its success has encouraged organizers to pursue a long-term partnership with the Toronto Blue Jays, an MLB team, to establish “Taiwan Day” as an annual fixture.
Attendees included families and Taiwanese expatriates who traveled from cities including Vancouver, Montreal and Detroit.
Canadian lawmaker Judy Sgro, cochair of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, joined the crowd, along with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto Director-General Liang Yi-peng (梁毅鵬) and Toronto City Councilor Lily Cheng (陳伶俐), the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants.
Photo: CNA
Before the game, participants gathered in a park near the Rogers Center wearing jerseys decorated with a Formosan black bear and Blue Jays logo, all labeled “Taiwan 1.”
Their cheers backed the Jays and called for Taiwan’s greater participation in international organizations, including the UN and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), drawing notice from fellow fans entering the stadium.
Liang said the turnout far exceeded expectations and reflected the community’s love for both Taiwan and Canada.
Sgro added that “all Canadians love Taiwan, respect Taiwan” and that she was happy to “come together and celebrate it.”
Organizers called the event a milestone, blending Toronto’s baseball passion with Taiwanese identity and giving expatriates a renewed sense of home.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS