A Taiwan Republic, flag, and anthem raised on “Taiwan Independence Day”

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3107 Edition

September 12-18, 2011

Headline News

A Taiwan Republic, flag, and anthem raised on “Taiwan Independence Day”

Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

Written by Lydia Ma

On September 8, 1951, Japan signed the Treaty of San Francisco wherein it 
relinquished its sovereignty over Taiwan. However, the treaty didn’t specify 
whether Taiwan would be returned to “China” or “Republic of China”, leaving the 
future of Taiwan undetermined. For this reason, many proponents of Taiwanese 
independence see this date as the day Taiwan became “independent”.

Every year since 2005, the Taiwan Republic Campaign has organized a flag 
raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Palace on Ketagalan Boulevard on 
September 8 to mark “Taiwan Independence Day”. On this occasion, a new flag 
symbolizing Taiwan is raised on a mast and the song “Taiwan the Formosa” is 
played and sung instead of the current national anthem before the crowd finally 
salute the flag. This year, “Taiwan the Formosa” was sung at 2:28 p.m. to 
remember February 28 Peace Memorial Day and the flag flew on the mast for an 
hour.

According to the founder of Taiwan Republic Campaign, Wang Hsien-chi, the 
consensus among Taiwanese people is that Taiwan is an independent country, and 
the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is a 
“state-to-state” relationship. The “1992 consensus”, which as been brought to 
the fore in recent days, is a relic of the past and the Ma administration is 
using it to confuse people.

Yikuang Presbyterian Church pastor, Rev. Cheng Ying-er, was invited to speak 
during the ceremony. He lamented that Taiwan never became a fully-fledged 
member of the international community after the Treaty of San Francisco. He 
underscored that the “Republic of China” not only caused Taiwan to leave the 
United Nations, but also isolated Taiwan into a corner.

He called on Taiwanese people to remember that Taiwan is a gift from God and 
they should respond to God with gratitude through efforts to make Taiwan a new 
and independent country. He then led the congregation in prayer, reminding them 
to rely on God instead of “allies” whenever the country faces dangers and 
threats.

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