TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Ukrainians in Taiwan and Taiwanese took to the streets together to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demand peace on Sunday afternoon (March 13).
The march saw over 1,500 participants, with several Taiwanese politicians also in attendance, including legislators Fan Yun (范雲), Lai Hsiang-ling (賴香伶), and Wang Wan-yu (王婉諭) as well as Taipei city councilors Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), Lin Ying-meng (林穎孟), and Huang Yu-fen (黃郁芬).
“Taiwanese must learn from Ukrainians,” Fan said at the event. “The Ukrainians’ fight is not just Ukrainian and the Hongkongers’ fight is not just Hong Kong's — just like the Taiwanese’s fight is not just Taiwanese. As long as we stand up to authoritarianism together, defend freedom together, defend democracy together, I believe this will be the revolution of our era.”
(Taiwan News, Keoni Everington photo)
Lin said Russia invading Ukraine on the grounds that “Ukraine is a divine, indivisible part of Russia” is absurd and similar to what China has said repeatedly as it attempts to infringe upon Taiwan’s sovereignty. She added that like pro-Russian voices within Ukraine, pro-China voices in Taiwan have tried to discourage not only Ukrainians but also Taiwanese during the war.
“We must learn (from Ukrainian unity) that the Taiwanese must unite and stand together; the Taiwanese must not show weakness or surrender, because once you surrender, you bring about worse consequences — invasion,” said Lin.
“Ukraine has shown the Taiwanese that when a country makes an effort and fights for itself — standing up for itself and uniting — it pays off,” said Miao. “We must thank our Ukrainian friends for teaching us that it pays off to stick it out.”
(Taiwan News, Keoni Everington photo)
The event began at 1 p.m., with participants gathering at the northwestern corner of the Daan Park, singing the Ukrainian national anthem, and listening to speakers from all over the world share their stories. The march began at 2:15 p.m., continuing along Xinsheng South Road and turning right onto Renai Road before finally arriving at Ketagalan Boulevard.
The organizers, a group of Ukrainians in Taiwan, Taiwanese, and “people from all over the world who support Ukraine and oppose this senseless war," said they had selected Ketagalan Boulevard as the destination because it is located in front of the Presidential Office and next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the event’s Facebook page, they condemned “Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine” and called on Taiwanese to “stand with Ukrainians until the war ends and peace is restored!”
(Taiwan News, Keoni Everington photo)
