Thousands took to the streets to pronounce their anti-independence stance yesterday after Saturday's march calling for the Republic of China (ROC) to adopt "Taiwan" as its official name.
Demonstrators in yesterday morning's event defended the ROC name, and activists in a separate march in the afternoon called on citizens to "oppose Taiwan independence in order to save Taiwan."
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The scale of yesterday's two rallies, however, was far short of Saturday's demonstration, which organizers estimate drew up to 150,000. According to the Taipei City Police Department, about 7,000 joined the morning rally, and over 3,000 participated in the afternoon march.
The crowd in the morning rally, most of whom were carrying ROC flags, gathered at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Both Chiang Fang Chih-yi (
"Whoever said that the Republic of China does not exist anymore is an enemy of the state. We can never let other countries think that rectifying Taiwan's name is what the Taiwanese majority wants," Chiang said.
"The Republic of China lives on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. It was established as the first democratic and free country in Asia through the efforts of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and many others. The country was established in 1911 and that is a historical fact," she said.
Yok said that he loved the Republic of China and those attending the march.
"No one here approves of rushing reunification. Those rushing independence are really rushing reunification," Yok said.
Meanwhile, the march in the afternoon was convened by the pro-communist Chinese Unification Alliance (
"We want to ask the government to drop the budget for military purchases and use the money for better welfare instead since China is really not an enemy. We also want a better economy," said Hsieh Hsiang-wen (謝向文), spokesman for the alliance.
The alliance also condemned what it sees as the US and Japan's manipulation of Taiwan, saying the two countries were trying to encourage Taiwan's independence and the separation of Taiwan from China.
Many high-school students, absent from most political activities in the country, attended the march. But when asked why they went to the event, many said they were urged to do so by their friends.
"We want to be sunny teenagers," said one student.
Another said, "A friend urged us to come so we came along. It's fun and my friends get to be together."
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS