Taipei, March 18 (CNA) Tens of thousands of people took part in the "Protect Democracy, Oppose Annexation" parade held in Taipei City Saturday, with President Chen Shui-bian giving an address at the rally.
In his address, President Chen defined the parade as a "shout-out to China" against its attempts to annex Taiwan and labeled the month of March as Taiwan's "Month of Democracy."
People from across the island and local Taiwanese awareness advocate groups participated in the parade which started at the site of the former Sungshan Tobacco Factory at 2 p.m. and ended in front of the Presidential Office on Ketagalan Boulevard at around 6 p.m.
"The whole world is watching us. We have to let the world know our opinions. We want China to stop suppressing Taiwan, " said a protester surnamed Ke, who traveled from the southern city of Tainan to take part in the rally.
Also joining the parade was a group of local towel-makers, who have been accusing Chinese towel makers of dumping. To support the local towel industry, a large number of protesters wore towels printed with the word "Taiwan" on their foreheads.
Protesters held cardboard signs that read "No NUC (National Unification Council)," "New Constitution" and "Anti-Annexation, " and chanted slogans and waved flags during the four-hour march in downtown Taipei.
Heavyweights of the "pan-green camp" of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) who participated in the parade included President Chen, Vice President Annette Lu, Premier Su Tseng-chang, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang.
The opposition "pan-blue alliance" of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) held a march along the same route last Sunday to denounce what they called the government's ignorance of "livelihood issues."