Taiwan: 1 million demonstrate against Chinese anti-secession law
Here's a writeup from the Scotsman.
The organization must have been quite a job:
Tens of thousands assembled at 10 different areas in Taipei, with each route representing one of the articles of the anti-secession law. The marchers converged on the wide boulevard in front of the Presidential Office building. . . . Thousands of tour buses brought protesters to Taipei from all over the island. Police estimated the crowd at about a million. Organisers billed the protest as a carnival for peace. A five-storey-high white balloon representing peace, and an equally tall model of a red sea urchin, its needles symbolising the missiles China is pointing at Taiwan, were erected at the protest site. |
The Reuters news report posits that only 250,000 attended. Bloomberg's numbers go from 300,000 to 800,000. Well, all these are initial estimates, so maybe the numbers will firm up with later reports. But suffice it to say, a LOT of Taiwanese showed up to speak their mind.
Taiwanese expats in the US marched in sister demonstrations, and expats in Japan and Europe marched also. Supporters also marched in Hong Kong.
More from CNN, which has a good slideshow of images from the Taipei march. More excellent news photos here. My personal pick? This one: "Don't Let Taiwan Fight for Democracy Alone." Indeed.