On Sept. 6 last year, more than 150,000 people converged in front of the Presidential Office under the blazing sun to take part in a demonstration calling for a change to Taiwan's official name. This massive march was organized by the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan, under the leadership of former president Lee Teng-hui (
The alliance planned to hold another 500,000-people demonstration on Mother's Day this year. But when I, along with the alliance's co-conveners, reported on the campaign to Lee, he reacted by saying that the March 20 presidential election will be the most important battle in the fight to safeguard local political power and that only then can we smoothly push forward a campaign to change Taiwan's official name.
Moreover, to help passionate supporters in southern Taiwan avoid the hardship of long journeys and to avoid wasting transportation resources, a provisional organization was established on Oct. 31 last year and the proposal by its secretary general Lee Ying-yuan (
I was instructed to inspect the planned event route. I and other staffers started off from Hoping Street on Hoping Island from the northern tip of Taiwan and travelled all the way down to the south along the north-south provincial highways. When we came to Huilung and Kueishan in Taoyuan and Hsinchu's Hukou Township, especially the sparsely populated areas in Miaoli, our blood ran cold and our palms started to sweat. We really thought that mobilizing a million people to form a hand-in-hand human chain along the roads in these remote areas is an impossible task.
When we came to Pingtung City and realized that the terminal point is on Chienkuo Road, we shouted unanimously in joy -- Hoping to Chienkuo (literally "peace" to "nation-building" in Chinese). Such a coincidence must be God's will!
Traditionally, in mass activities, the number of participants -- a few more or a few less -- is not the decisive factor in a rally's success. But in the million-people hand-in-hand campaign, no gap is allowed along the 500km-long route. Publicity and mobilization are required. Organizational work must be closely integrated. In particular, the grouping method used by combat troops is required to ensure the rally's success.
Luckily, Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (
On the afternoon of Feb. 28, all the ethnic groups shall unite forces and the Taiwanese people shall stand up and line up along the north-south provincial highways for the hand-in-hand rally. Let our motherland Taiwan stand up -- this is the first goal. Then we Taiwanese people must express our demand for peace and rejection of missiles, practicing direct people power on March 20 to extend all-out support for the peace referendum. Let people be their own masters -- this is the second goal.
At the same time, we shall safeguard the native political power and support Chen's re-election bid. This is the third goal.
After the Taiwanese people have achieved these three goals, the projects to create a new constitution and rectify Taiwan's official name will be completed naturally.
Peter Wang is chief executive of the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan.
Translated by Jackie Lin
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to