More than 1 million people are expected to join hands in an island-long human chain today as a peaceful means of protest against China's military threat.
Organizers of the "228 Hand-in-Hand Rally" yesterday encouraged more people to come out in support of the event in the hope that this display of people-power would focus international attention on Taiwan's precarious relations with China, which has 496 missiles aimed at the country.
The event was originally aimed at bringing 1 million people together to form a 500km-long human chain from Keelung County in the north to the southernmost tip of Pingtung County. Due to enormous public interest, more than 1 million people have signed up to take part and the length of the chain has been extended to nearly 600km.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The chain will primarily run along National Highway No. 1 and partially along Highways No. 3 and No. 5, from Hoping Island near Keelung to Pingtung's Oluanpi.
The participants are expected to join hands at 2:28pm today.
"Our history is about to be written by ourselves. We use the softest approach in the hope of producing the biggest shock to build up our confidence and demonstrate the will of the Taiwanese people in the hope of changing China's attitudes," said Annie Lee (李安妮), daughter of former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the national leader of the massive event.
Chief organizer Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂) yesterday called on people who have to work today to leave their offices for a minute and link hands with their colleagues outside. He said motorists should honk their horns to show their support.
Those who haven't yet signed up can just stop at any part of the designated route and join the line, Ng said, urging participants to bring cameras along.
The rally is a collaboration between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and its partner, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), of which Lee is the founder, and is expected to bolster President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) re-election bid.
Prominent members of the pan-green camp are expected to take part in today's rally. Chen and Lee will join the line in Miaoli County. Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) will take part in Hsichih in Taipei County, and the first lady, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), and her daughter, son-in-law and grandson will be at Taipei's 228 Peace Memorial Park, together with Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌).
Premier Yu Shyi-kun will join the chain in the middle in Changhua County, and Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will take part in Kaohsiung City.
Also see story:
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS