Sunday, May 17, 2009

Historical Witness



About 5 years ago, my (deceased) church friend in Appleton, Robert(a white American), had said to me once that one of the most significant moment of his life was his participation side-by-side with the struggling black American in Washington DC and listened to Martin Luther King, Jr's 'I have a Dream' speech in 1963. He said that he had participated in American historical witness in the history of American struggling for social and racial justice.


Yesterday on May 17, 2009 I participated in a 9 km march with a group of approximately 10,000 Taiwanese from Pan-Chiao City to Taipei. The leaders of this group had been walking in the last 25 days from Hen-Chun City of Ping-Tong county. After this last march, this group will complete a total of 505 km walk for Taiwan sovereignty, and social justice. Never had a moment before that Taiwanese feel so powerless when Chinese annexation of Taiwan could become a reality because Ma Ying-Jiao and his administration are willing to become Chinese molds working on Chinese behalf in Taiwan.


I had reported briefly about this group on May 7, 2009 when this group walked past Taichung City. I was there to take a photo with Teacher Su-Ming. At that time, there were only approximately 20 walkers. Walking from Ping-Tung to Taipei, this group had received both cheerful welcome on some occasions and cold or even insulting receptions on other occasions. Yet the goal of this group is very clear; Taiwanese does not allow the molds like Ma to sell-out, and Taiwan must be a sovereign nation standing tall with dignity among all nations.


There were big rallies and four other marches in Taipei on the same day on May 17. Most people went to Taipei joining other marches (It is estimated that approximately 600,000 people participating in marches. I will report the event separately.) I chose to participated in this less-known, or the so-called 'The Fifth March'. Initially, I did not expect the participants of this march would exceed few hundred people. Well, I was wrong. The march stretched over 3 kilometers, and an official estimate was 10,000 people.


The moment when we walked across the Damsui River that divides Panchio and Taipei, was a great feeling. We had said to ourselves, "I had witnessed a historical moment in Taiwan's history."

No comments: