Taiwanese promoting civil defense awareness and national unity in the face of China's invasion threat set off from Tainan today on the third day of a nine-day relay march from Kaohsiung to Taipei.
"Prepare for civil defense, protect Taiwan," shouted activists on the Tainan-Yunlin section of the march organized by the Kuma Civil Defense Education Association, an NGO cofounded by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋).
Photo: Wang Mei-hsiu, Taipei Times
"I hope that during this northward journey, more people and civil organizations show their support so everyone hears the voices representing Taiwanese, that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country," said a Tainan native surnamed Hou (侯) who attended the full day's journey yesterday.
More than 50 groups of activists are to join in stages to complete the 380km "Stand Up as Taiwan" march across 13 cities and counties, according to the group's Web site.
Largely following Provincial Highway 1 along Taiwan's western half, the march route uses train stations as relay points from the south to the north.
The group expects about 1,000 people to gather at the event's final stop at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei on Sunday.
Established in 2021, the association, also known as the "Black Bear Academy" or Kuma Academy, aims to "prepare a pre-war mentality for civilians" and "cultivate self-defense capability and will to defend Taiwan," according to the group's Web site.
Beijing has threatened people associated with the association.
In October, China's Taiwan Affairs Office put the Taiwanese NGO on an official public list of "die-hard Taiwan independence separatists."
Shen and one of the group's financiers, businessman Robert Tsao (曹興誠), were also denounced by China as "die-hard Taiwan independence separatists" — a crime potentially punishable by death according to court guidelines published by China in June.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
RSS