MILKING IT:The KMT later held its own flag-raising ceremony, at which Hung Hsiu-chu said that the party gets why ‘hardship’ was the public’s word of last year
Taipei Times
Date: Jan 02, 2017
By: Lin Liang-sheng and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA
In a break with precedent, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) did not give a New Year’s Day speech
People holding Republic of China flags jump as they wait for the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
yesterday morning, instead marking the occasion by attending a flag-raising ceremony and singing the national anthem along with members of the military.
Tsai and Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) left the Presidential Office Building at 6:16am to join the hundreds of people already gathered in front to watch the New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony, a tradition that has now been observed by four presidents.
As the flag was raised, Tsai and Chen sang the national anthem along with the crowd and 45 soldiers from various units of the armed forces who recently received commendations for their distinguished performances over the past year.
The ceremony was followed by a performance by a group of drummers made up of the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra and an indie band called Fire Ex, best known for writing a song for the Sunflower movement in 2014. [FULL STORY]
