The chief organizer of the human-chain rally that is slated to take place on Feb. 28 announced yesterday that the event has so far received overwhelming support nationwide, with the number of scheduled participants exceeding 1 million.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Deputy Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Giving a report on the progress of the rally, Lee said the quick surge in the number of participants has cheered the morale of the organizers, but has also made transporting the throng of participants an acute problem.
Lee said there are about 9,000 buses available in the country, but even that number would be insufficient to carry all of the participants.
"We hope people can use all kinds of transport, including bicycles, motorcycles, cars or even walking to support the activity," Lee said.
Supporters of the rally, which is being jointly organized by the DPP, Taiwan Solidarity Union and hundreds of private groups advocating Taiwanese independence gathered yesterday in Taipei to appeal for lasting peace, freedom and democracy and to oppose China's aiming of missiles at Taiwan.
Annie Lee (
She said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the past five decades has educated people to believe many things that are irrelevant to the well-being of Taiwan, including asking people here to retake China, to build a prosperous China and to liberate the Chinese people living in dire conditions under the rule of the communist party.
"But these demands are irrelevant, vague and unreal to us. To many of us here, the idea of China -- this so-called motherland -- is very vague, and we don't know what it looks like. What is real to us is the land that we stand on and live in. That is what we care about," Lee said.
She said the event aims to invite people to redefine their national identity, to demand China respect Taiwanese people's will and to let the world understand that the people of Taiwan are not the pawns of the Chinese.
Urging more people to attend the rally and to write a new chapter in Taiwan's democracy, Lee reminded supporters to bring three gadgets with them on the day of the rally: cellphones, digital cameras and radios.
The rally will span 500km in length along the north-south provincial highways on the west coast, from Keelung County to Pingtung County. All participants are expected to hold hands at 2:28pm on Feb. 28.
Participants are encouraged to use cellphones to spread text messages about the event, while the digital cameras will be used to keep photographic records which will then be published online to be viewed worldwide. Information regarding the rally will also be broadcast on the radio.
National Policy Adiser Alice King (
"Eighty-five percent of Japanese agree that Taiwan's remaining a democratic and free country and not becoming a part of China are very important to Japan. Japanese are actually more concerned about whether Taiwan could insist on walking its own road and not be swallowed by China. Because if that happens, Chinese naval power can penetrate the Western Pacific, which would endanger Japan's security," King said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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