Are you ready for the annual Keep Taiwan Free rally this Saturday 9/22?

[B. Hsu]

Are you ready for the annual Keep Taiwan Free rally this Saturday 9/22?

Our young team of activists have been very busy preparing a number of creative and impactful initiatives to help drive further awareness towards our movement and Taiwan’s situation in the global community.

On Monday 9/17, we kicked off a week-long series of events with our “Resist the CCP” bicycle ads campaign. Each ad features a different example of CCP aggression, including the kidnapping of Lee Ming-Che, pressure on international airlines, and exclusion from the WHO in the wake of the 2003 SARS crisis. The aim of these ads is to spark widespread curiosity about Taiwan’s international position and China’s bullying. Every day this week, these ads have circulated various neighborhoods in New York City, targeting key pedestrian and commuter traffic. These bikes will also be biking alongside with us on 9/22!  

On Monday 9/17, we also held a small educational exhibit, called “Hospital Without Borders” (HWB), at Washington Square Park in NYC. HWB was first showcased in Geneva right before the 71st World Health Assembly. The aim of this project is to showcase Taiwan’s contributions to global health. Our team provided passerbys with engaging and educational content - while emphasizing that health has no borders. WHO cares? Taiwan cares.

On Tuesday 9/18, the opening day of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, we stood in the rain alongside Tibetans, Uyghurs, Taiwanese, Southern Mongolians, Hong Kongers and Chinese human rights activists at the “Resist Xi Jinping: Dictator of the Unfree World” joint action rally. Our members spoke alongside our allies to urge the international community to support what all our causes value: freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law, and self-determination. We wish to share with you the warm feelings of solidarity and comradeship between all our movements, which keep us all moving forward.

On Thursday 9/20, we showed Washington Square Park why Taiwan matters. Our “Taiwan Matters" art installation consists of big, pink, movable pieces symbolizing Taiwan's unsettled position in the global arena. It also represents the heaviness of the relentless pursuit of international recognition by the Taiwanese people. When the pieces are assembled, it looks like Taiwan surrounded by ocean from a bird’s eye view. Our group of Taiwanese designers and architects were inspired by Digital Minister 唐鳳 Audrey Tang’s words "四百萬年以來,在歐亞板塊與菲律賓海板塊的相互碰撞中,台灣一直就是持續向上、仰望星空,未來也就是這樣。". While Audrey's statement was literally a description of Taiwan's geographical characteristics, its straight-forwardness strikes a chord in many Taiwaneses' hearts during a turbulent time. Our installation will be on display on 9/22 as well at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

Our team is continually reaching out to new and familiar allies, building alliances and continued support for our movement. In advance of the rally on Saturday, please view the attached for two letters of support (attached) sent by our friends Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress and Vice President of UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Although they will not be able to march with us due to scheduling conflicts, they have assured us they will be supporting our efforts on Saturday for afar.

Our work and our efforts this year so far have been recognized on multiple media platforms:

• 紐約宣傳入聯 台灣青年盼更多新血加入
• Joint Protest - Resist Xi Jinping: Dictator of the Unfree World
• 紐約臺灣入聯活動啟動 藝術展覽大遊行
• 推動台灣入聯 22日橫越曼哈頓遊行
• 2018.9.18【政經看民視】
• 【美国观察】2018年9月19日
• 「五獨」人士聚集聯合國總部 抗議中國獨裁及打壓人權

It has been an eventful and momentous week for Taiwanese American activism in NYC. We look forward to having all of you join us this Saturday as we close off this week. Our constant efforts year after year do pay off and we are grateful to be a part of history alongside all of you. Kindly view our attached flyer with more details about Saturday’s events!

For more information about the Keep Taiwan Free movement, please visit http://www.taiwanmatters.com. You may also visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us!

Thank you for your support - Let’s continue to #KeepTaiwanFree together!

Best,

Keep Taiwan Free Rally Planning Team 2018
Alex Chang 張力元
Mu-Hua Chien 簡睦樺
Gloria Hu 胡慧中
Tian-Liang Huang 黃天亮
Jennifer Liu 劉佩芸
Jenny Wang 汪采羿
Joshua Wang 王中煒
Eason Wu 吳丞竣

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