National Day of China and Flag Burning in Taiwan
2022.10.01 04:40
National Day of China and Flag Burning in Taiwan
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – At a time when tensions are rising over the Taiwan Strait, two small Taiwanese groups at opposite ends of the debate about relations with Beijing marked China’s national day on Saturday by raising and burning flags.
On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong established the People’s Republic of China. At the end of that year, the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan, where it remains today—neither side recognizes the other.
Taiwan, a democratically governed nation, observes its own national holiday, Oct. 10, which commemorates the establishment of the Republic of China.
However, a small number of Taiwanese celebrate China’s national day, either out of pride at being Chinese or out of rage at Beijing’s threats against the island, particularly in light of China’s August war games near Taiwan.
The Taiwan People’s Communist Party gathered about 200 people, most of them elderly, in a rural area of Tainan in the south, to sing China’s national anthem and raise the country’s flag on what the party called “a sacred part of China’s territory” in a news release.
Despite the recent war games that were condemned by all of Taiwan’s mainstream parties, the chairman of the party that has no elected officials and is very fringe told Reuters that China was not a threat.
Lin, 67, stated, “Military exercises are good for Taiwan because they show the majesty of China’s military force worldwide.”
On the other side of the spectrum, on Saturday, the pro-independence Taiwan Statebuilding Party burned a Chinese flag on a boat off the south coast of Taiwan in the same area of the sea where China held its August drills, shouting slogans like “protect Taiwan to the death.”
On a boat in the Taiwan Strait, Party Chairman Chen Yi-chi stated to Reuters that burning the flag was not provocative.
“How can it be extreme to burn the flag? What will you do when the artillery fire comes if you want to demonstrate your resistance to defending Taiwan right now, if burning the flag is extreme?
After he was defeated in a recall election the previous year, the party lost its sole parliamentarian.
Despite Taipei’s vehement opposition, China considers Taiwan to be a part of the People’s Republic. Taipei’s government asserts that Beijing has no right to claim Taiwan or speak on behalf of the Taiwanese people.
