Students clap hands for Taiwan

Hundreds of UW students, along with Taiwanese community members, joined hands in Red Square in memorial of lives lost.

The demonstration commemorated the deaths of thousands of Taiwanese killed by Chinese Nationalist Party troops who violently put down an island-wide rebellion in 1947.

The 40-minute event held at 2 p.m. on Friday echoed the "Hands Across Taiwan" demonstration held 16 hours prior in Taipei, Taiwan.

Organizing the event was a student-led organization, Taiwanese Tenghui Study Group, that proclaims it is "not a political-oriented organization, but rather a group of peace-loving students who firmly believe in the value of democracy."

The crowd, composed of both young and old, spread throughout the center of Red Square. Those who passed by listened to the masses raise their voices as they sang "Formosa" in remembrance of lives lost decades ago.

"It's really a traumatic experience for the Taiwan government, to look back and not see it as a scar, as a struggle of the democratic government," said Alan Ko, vice president of Taiwanese Tenghui Study Group.

After speeches of declaration and prayers, the shape of Taiwan was formed at precisely 2:28 p.m.

Demonstrators then rose in a sea of joined hands chanting, "Taiwan, yes!"

In his speech, Ko said, "[Taiwan's] democracy should never be trampled by the military might of any other political entity," putting a great emphasis on the responsibility that the Taiwanese people have to "preserve the fruit of democracy so that it will not be trampled by China military might."

Spike Lai, UW alumnus, said the demonstration mirrored the one held in Taipei and that the group at UW was "successful."

In one last act of proclamation for the event, the group joined together once more and chanted, hand-in-hand "Taiwan, yes! China, no!" for the remainder of the allotted time.