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.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry