Green Ideas

You can see more photos of the march at my flickr account: http://flickr.com/photos/23521940@NO7
Yesterday I was invited to participate in a live performance a the the Green Party (DPP) Political rally in Taipei. There are over 127 political parties registered in Taiwan, but next weeks election has boiled down to a contest between two prominent parties. One is the current presidents' political party, known as the DDP or Democratic Progressive Party which favors permanent political independence from mainland China. The other party is the Chinese Nationalist Party, known as the Kuomintang or KMT party. The DPP is "green" and the "blue party is KMT.







My friend Lily, her cousin and her cousin's friend and I met early in the morning at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. The other participants, about 50 in all, were Taiwanese and right from the start I stuck out like a BIG American! A famous actor and designed a huge Trojan horse and a performance piece we were invited to participate in. The story we performed concerned the poor quality of products exported by China. Characters, dressed as cell phone, candy, oil, toys, food, even milk, lobster and dumplings danced and sang in a choreographed performance. On closer inspection, the poison signs and skull and crossbones painted onto their elaborate costumes became evident. Workers dressed in the blue costumes of China climbed from the Trojan horse where smoke and dirt spewed out onto the crowd. A huge replica of China's president presided over all. Suddenly the good guys (that's me!) came running out carrying huge canisters of CO2. All 20 of us herded the workers and dangerous export products away, gassing them until our canisters were empty. We then cried out about our victory and began to push the horse around the city of Taipei. Tens of thousands of people followed us, high-fiving everyone. The figures jumped along the roadways and politicians climbed aboard the horse and stood inside the huge windows waving at the crowds. A cotillion of Japanese senators also joined in. It was an amazing experience. I have gone to many peace rallies in DC, but this one topped them all.



Although I was hounded by the news media all day, the only statement I made was that I love Taiwan and that in America we have the same problem with imports from China..remember the lead painted toys at Christmastime? I honestly did not know enough to comment on anything else related to this election. Taiwan is a democracy and this exercise of freedom of speech was both real and amazing to be a part of. I will never forget the hundreds of hands I touched, the eyes that sparkled into mine and the words of gratitude I received for being a part of this important event.