A coalition of civic organizations and independence advocates yesterday held a rally in front of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to thank US president-elect Donald Trump for his support and urge Washington to upgrade the AIT to an embassy.
The demonstrators said they represented the aspirations of a majority of Taiwanese who wanted to thank Trump for speaking the truth when he accepted a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and referring on Twitter to Tsai as the president of Taiwan, who was elected by the people in a democratic vote.
“We are not here to protest, but to congratulate [US] president-elect Trump, and to celebrate the start of a new Taiwan-US relationship. Trump, by his words and actions, has accorded Taiwanese dignity and respect,” Taiwan Independence Party Chairman Huang Kuo-hua (黃國華) said.
Photo: Jason Pan, Taipei Times
“Trump recognizes that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign nation deserving of US support, as both nations share the same values of maintaining a democratic society, respect for the rule of law and freedom of speech, and pursuit of liberty and happiness,” he said.
Huang added that Taiwanese support Trump because he has pushed Taiwan onto the world stage, praising the US president-elect as a “strong-willed leader” who has the “vision, audacity and moral courage” to stand up to China and shatter the “one China” fallacy.
Taiwanese National Party Chairman Tsua Gim-liong (蔡金龍) urged Trump and his advisers to put into action the process for normalizing relations between the two nations by upgrading the AIT into the “US embassy in Taiwan,” with both nations exchanging ambassadors in Taipei and Washington.
“The new US government under Trump’s leadership will usher in a new era in Taiwan-US relations, where the old diplomatic ties in the 1950s and 1960s will be restored. In those days, Taiwan was a staunch military and economic ally of the US — a loyal, steadfast bulwark in the fight against communist China,” Tsua said.
Huang and Tsua, accompanied by about 50 members from affiliated pro-Taiwan groups, presented a statement with their requests, which was received by AIT spokesperson Sonia Urbom.
The demonstrators unfurled a US flag and a “Taiwan Republic” flag — a green-and-white banner with an image of Taiwan in the center — and presented a plaque bearing the words “US Embassy in Taiwan” in English and Chinese (美國駐台灣國大使館) for the AIT to put up in its front entrance.
They sang the US national anthem to mark the friendship and respect between Taiwanese and Americans, and then sang Taiwan the Green (台灣翠青) by Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao (蕭泰然), which has long been proposed as a new national anthem.
Other groups that attended the rally included the Taiwan Autonomy Alliance, the Nation-Building Forum, the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign and the Taiwanese National Congress.
Brian Qo (吳崑松), of the Taiwan Autonomy Alliance, said that it took Trump to put Taiwan in the international media’s spotlight by making it clear that Taiwan is not part of China, that Taiwan is not the Republic of China, but a separate country with a democratic society and its sovereignty belongs to Taiwanese.
Another participant, Lai Fu-jung (賴富榮), said it was time to end China’s bullying and Trump was the man with courage to end the lie that is the “one China” policy.
He said he looks forward to the day when Taiwan and the US can restore diplomatic ties and he can visit the US embassy in Taipei.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS