`Hoping for Hoping' might seem a hopeless name for an organization until you learn that the second "hoping" (和平) is actually the Romanization of "peace" in Chinese and that the group is one of the founding members of Taiwan's nascent peace movement.
Their hope is that tomorrow, all peaceable-minded people will turn out for a gathering in Taichung complete with food, drinks and music from 15 local bands. Admission is NT$300 and all proceeds go to local charities.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HOPING FOR HOPING
Jindowin, .22, Dakanow, Milk, Dahai, Anglers, Mandala, Schlumpy, The Deported, Chicken Rice, Boosie Chillin, Rocket Girl!, Robin Dale, Wise Maneouvers, and Blacksummerdaycamp will all take the stage of the Night Sky Outdoor BBQ starting at 2pm with an after party featuring DJs from Chi Funk and the rhymes of Elementality.
"Peace," says organizer Dave Nichols. Hoping for Hoping was founded last year by a group consisting mostly of foreign residents of Taiwan opposed to the US' invasion of Iraq. They met with several like-minded locals and drew some 300 people to a protest rally on the steps of the American Institute in Taiwan last February.
Hsia Chu-joe (夏鑄九), a professor at National Taiwan University and long-time political activist, was among them. He offered a history lesson on Taiwan's peace movement.
"After the lifting of martial law, besides the movement for democracy, there were others, such as the labor movement, the farmers' movement, student movement, womens' movement, gay and lesbian movement and the environmental movement, including people opposed to nuclear power," Hsia said. "We were called the pian di kai hua (
Following that rally, Hoping for Hoping held their first peace rally in Taoyuan County, with many of the same musical acts that will be performing at this year's event.
Night Sky BBQ is located at 199, Chung Gang Road, Taichung (
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the country’s other political groups dare not offend religious groups, says Chen Lih-ming (陳立民), founder of the Taiwan Anti-Religion Alliance (台灣反宗教者聯盟). “It’s the same in other democracies, of course, but because political struggles in Taiwan are extraordinarily fierce, you’ll see candidates visiting several temples each day ahead of elections. That adds impetus to religion here,” says the retired college lecturer. In Japan’s most recent election, the Liberal Democratic Party lost many votes because of its ties to the Unification Church (“the Moonies”). Chen contrasts the progress made by anti-religion movements in
Last week the State Department made several small changes to its Web information on Taiwan. First, it removed a statement saying that the US “does not support Taiwan independence.” The current statement now reads: “We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait.” In 2022 the administration of Joe Biden also removed that verbiage, but after a month of pressure from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), reinstated it. The American
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus convener Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) and some in the deep blue camp seem determined to ensure many of the recall campaigns against their lawmakers succeed. Widely known as the “King of Hualien,” Fu also appears to have become the king of the KMT. In theory, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) outranks him, but Han is supposed to be even-handed in negotiations between party caucuses — the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says he is not — and Fu has been outright ignoring Han. Party Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) isn’t taking the lead on anything while Fu
Feb 24 to March 2 It’s said that the entire nation came to a standstill every time The Scholar Swordsman (雲州大儒俠) appeared on television. Children skipped school, farmers left the fields and workers went home to watch their hero Shih Yen-wen (史艷文) rid the world of evil in the 30-minute daily glove puppetry show. Even those who didn’t speak Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) were hooked. Running from March 2, 1970 until the government banned it in 1974, the show made Shih a household name and breathed new life into the faltering traditional puppetry industry. It wasn’t the first
RSS