The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day (雙十節) is the anniversary of the Wuchang Uprising (武昌起義), a rebellion that led to a declaration of independence from the central government by Wuchang and several other provinces in China in 1911. It is celebrated yearly on October 10th in Taiwan to commemorate the Wuchang Uprising of October 10, 1911.
In Taiwan, Double Ten Day begins with a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Building. After the flag is raised, the National Anthem of the Republic of China is sung and a parade from the Presidential Building to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial is held. The parade used to be a military parade but now government and civic organizations are included. Afterwards, President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a National Day speech with the theme of “Unite Taiwan and move forward with confidence” (團結台灣，自信前行). The content of her speech this year was divided into four parts:
(1) Taiwan’s epidemic prevention results,
(2) the new Taiwan’s economic strategy under the new situation due to COVID-19,
(3) the emphasis on solid national defense to maintain national security, and
(4) Taiwan’s active participation in regional cooperation.
In President Tsai Ing-wen’s first part of speech, she talks about “Taiwan’s achievements in epidemic prevention contribute to the world (台灣防疫成果貢獻國際)”. President Tsai believes that although this year has been difficult, due to the hard work of countless anti-epidemic heroes and the unity of the nation, the country’s ability to survive this adversity has been built, and the international community’s support for Taiwan has also given us more confidence to move forward. So this year’s National Day included a special invitation of anti-epidemic heroes to sing the national anthem, in order to show gratitude to the anti-epidemic heroes for their contributions to Taiwan.
The second part of the speech was to “Explain the new Taiwan economic strategy under the new situation (闡述新情勢下的新台灣經濟戰略)”. The president explained that even though Taiwan is one of the few countries in the world to maintain positive economic growth during the epidemic, yet, under the severe situation around the world, we must be ahead of the global economic development, based on past industrial policies and international economic and trade cooperation, deploy to create the new Taiwan economy that Taiwanese people expect.
The third part of her speech “emphasize maintaining national security with solid national defense (強調以堅實國防維護國家安全)”. The President believes that only solid defensive determination and strength can guarantee national security and maintain regional peace. The President visited military bases in person, and sincerely appreciates the brave dedication of the national army, and on behalf of the country and people, thanked all the national army for sticking to their posts and defending the country.
As for the fourth part of her speech, President Tsai Ing-wen calls that “Taiwan uses its active role in participating in regional cooperation (台灣用積極作為參與區域合作)”. She emphasizes that we must transform the trials of changes into opportunities. Adhere to the principle of sovereignty and democracy unchanged, but be flexible in strategy, and will actively participate in the establishment of a new international and regional order in the future, not only to maintain peace and promote prosperity and development, but also to promote the value of progress and goodness to the whole world. Currently, the world is paying great attention to the changes in the situation between the Indo-Pacific and the cross-strait. We adhere to our principles and are determined to maintain the stability of cross-strait relations, but this is all of our responsibility.
Other than delivering this inspiring speech, there were also other programs in order to celebrate Taiwan’s national day. Although the parade was cancelled, there were three firsts in the performances prepared by the National Day preparations this year. For the first time, the Black Hawk helicopters (黑鷹直升機) of the aircrew flew over Kaidao for rappelling, and the Air Force F-16V (Block20) performed for the first time on Taiwan National Day. The battlefield and military police’ rapid response team performed for the first time in a fully armed formation as well. In addition, in order to thank the national epidemic prevention team for their dedication and efforts in COVID-19, representatives of the national epidemic prevention team entered into the stadium in a jeep. Lastly, we mark this day with magnificent fireworks. This year, the National Day fireworks were chosen to be displayed on Tainan’s Yuguang Island, come take a look and enjoy these beautiful moments with your friends and family!
