228 Hand-in-Hand Rally - Definition and Overview

The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally (Chinese: 228百萬人手牽手護台灣; pinyin: 228 bǎi wàn rén shǒu qiān shǒu hù tái wān; meaning literally "228 one million people hand-in-hand to protect Taiwan") was a demonstration in the form of a human chain held in Taiwan on February 28 2004. Over 1 million Taiwanese formed a 500-kilometer (300-mile) long human chain, from Taiwan's northernmost city, Keelung, to its southern tip, to commemmorate the 228 Incident, to call for peace, and to protest the deployment of missiles by the People's Republic of China aimed at Taiwan along the mainland coast.

This demonstration was inspired by the human chain comprised of two million that was organized in the Baltic states in 1989, where the Soviet Union later invaded to stop the Baltic states from declaring independence. Although billed as non-political, the event was organized by the Pan-Green Coalition and took place only a few weeks before the ROC presidential election, 2004. Some of the symbolism of the demonstration, particularly at the point in the event where participants "turn away from China" (in this context, "China" refers to the People's Republic of China) veered clearly toward support of Taiwanese independence, and hence was not attended by members of the Pan-Blue Coalition.

There were rumors that actor Sean Connery was going to participate in the demonstration, but this did not occur. A People First Party legislator claimed that Connery cancelled the trip after being informed by the PFP that the demonstration was a political event. However, it is unclear whether Connery ever had any intention of visiting Taiwan.

External link

• Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance (http://www.hand-in-hand.org.tw) — official site