People rallied in Taipei yesterday to support US President Donald Trump and called for Taipei and Washington to normalize the relationship between the two nations.
The group held banners and shouted: “Support President Trump, protect Taiwan,” “Welcome Trump to visit Taiwan” and other slogans while waving US flags, along with green-and-white flags bearing an image of Taiwan and its outlying islands.
Organizers estimated that about 300 people attended the march.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
They set out on Ketagalan Boulevard and marched for several blocks before returning to the start point.
Many of the participants were Taiwanese independence advocates, members of civil groups or Taiwanese-Americans.
Among them was Philip Ong, who was dressed as Captain America.
Ong worked in the shipping business and had for many years lived in New York City.
“I am here to thank President Trump, because he has done so much for Taiwan in the past four years,” Ong said.
“Trump was strong and tough against communist China, and had worked to protect Taiwanese people from the hostile forces,” said Ong, who now lives in Taipei.
The event was organized by the Preparatory Office of Autonomous Formosa Detached Territory of Japan, the Taiwan Republic Office, the Taiwan Solidarity Union and the Taiwan Independence Party.
The groups invited Trump to visit Taiwan and expressed their hope that formal Taiwan-US ties would be restored.
“Although the US Republican and Democratic parties are in agreement to back Taiwan on international issues, Taiwanese are very concerned that [US president-elect Joe] Biden’s family members have business interests in China,” Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said.
“We have seen Trump approve 11 arms procurement deals for Taiwan, and signed into law the Taiwan Travel Act, the Taiwan Assurance Act and other Taiwan-friendly legislation,” Chen said.
“Trump has incorporated Taiwan as a partner into the new US Indo-Pacific Strategy,” he said. “Taiwanese want to express our gratitude to him.”
“Formosans are close friends of America and Japan, and strong supporters of democratic progress for the Chinese,” said Michael Yeun (楊明昊), a Taiwanese-American who wrote the groups’ invitation letter to Trump.
‘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
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
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
RSS