Under the Formosa Alliance’s rallying call, tens of thousands of people yesterday gathered in front of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) headquarters in Taipei, demanding an amendment to the Referendum Act (公民投票法) to allow for a poll promoting Taiwanese independence and rejecting Chinese annexation.
Amendments to the act promulgated in January have lowered the thresholds for proposing and passing referendums, but proposals about changing the national territory, flag and name are still not allowed.
Shouting slogans such as “Taiwan yes, China no” and “[we] want a referendum,” nearly 130,000 people rallied outside the DPP’s headquarters, according to the alliance’s estimate at 3:30pm.
Photo: EPA / Ritchie B. Tongo
“We should tell the world that we want to establish an independent country,” alliance convener and Formosa TV (民視) chairman Kuo Bei-hung (郭倍宏) said, encouraging people to press the ruling party to amend the law again.
Former Presidential Office adviser Peng Ming-min (彭明敏) said that many of his friends had asked him not to attend the rally, but he still went, even though he might lose friends.
To strive for a better future, Taiwanese should fight Beijing’s attempts to swallow the nation, otherwise China might eliminate Taiwanese, as it is doing to Uighurs in Xinjiang, Peng said.
There should be no limit to referendum proposals, given that initiating referendums is a basic democratic right, he said, adding that Taiwanese independence should be achieved through a referendum.
“Long live the Republic of Taiwan,” Peng shouted at the end of his speech.
The act has evolved from a “bird cage” to an “iron cage,” because it does not even allow people to decide on the name of their own country, former Presidential Office adviser Wu Li-pei (吳澧培) said, urging people not to let Taiwan become “another Hong Kong.”
“We are at a critical juncture of history,” Wu said. “There might be a long way to go to achieve Taiwanese independence, but everyone should play his or her own part to realize the goal.”
It has been more than 50 years since Peng initiated the Declaration of Formosan Self-Salvation in 1964, but Taiwan has not yet become a “normal” country, because Taiwanese did not fight for their rights bravely enough, Social Democratic Party convener Fan Yun (范雲) said.
The nation should be named “Taiwan” instead of the “Republic of China,” otherwise other countries would continue confusing the nation with China and rejecting Taiwan’s international presence, Taoyuan resident Teng Pang-yuan (鄧邦圓), 32, said.
Teng said that seeing Beijing’s bullying and the insistence of using the name “Chinese Taipei” at sports events makes him more inclined toward independence.
Taiwanese should make the nation independent, even if other countries refuse to admit this status, Teng added.
Yesterday’s event might be the biggest rally trumpeting independence in recent decades, event host Dennis Peng (彭文正) said, adding that the DPP’s march in Kaohsiung yesterday was not serious, because it averted the independence issue and only copied the alliance’s call to oppose Chinese annexation.
While the DPP has forbidden party members from joining the alliance’s activities, many still showed up at the rally, including Wu and former minister of foreign affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山).
Asked if the party would punish those who attended, DPP Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) said the order was to protect candidates running in the Nov. 24 elections, and that Wu and Chen would not be affected, because they are not candidates.
Additional reporting by Su Fun-her
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
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
RSS