Hands Across Taiwan
To mark the February 28th national holiday in Taiwan, I joined in the ‘Hands Across Taiwan’ event.
Due to the upcoming elections in Taiwan, the ruling DPP party had arranged to form a ‘human chain’ from the northernmost tip of Taiwan down to the southern tip. A chain of over a million people holding hands to commemorate the events of Feb 28th 1947, and also as a peace rally.
To be honest, my first entry into Taiwanese politics had less to do with my strongly held beliefs and more to do with my location: the route of the chain went right past my home. So after a happy lunchtime play in DaAn park, we all went out to see what the event would be like. We arrived at about quarter past 2 (the main event was happening at 2:28), and watched 10 minutes of people cheering passing cars, camera crews, and anything else that seemed worth cheering! Then at the appointed time, everyone held hands together, and cheered even louder. The whole thing only lasted a total of 20-30 minutes before everyone started to disperse.
According to the news reports, there were up to 2 million people who took part all along Taiwan. I’m glad to have played my little part 