Chiang said a team of government officials and overseas compatriots would follow the path of Sun, the Founding Father of the R.O.C., around the globe from October 2010 to January 1, 2011, starting in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Sun founded the Society for Regenerating China. The relay will pass through other cities that served as bases for Sun’s activities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco in California.
The team will return to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Dec. 31 and reach the Office of the President on Jan. 1, 2011 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the nation.
The project was warmly embraced by OCAC Minister Wu Ying-yih. “I will definitely run a leg in the relay,” he said.
However, Tsai Shih-ping, vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Centenary Foundation in charge of official celebration activities, said, “The torch relay was proposed by the Taiwanese community in Canada, and has yet to be discussed by the foundation.”
Sources familiar with the matter say that the foundation has started reviewing project proposals from various ministries and agencies. Suggestions coming from county and city governments will be reviewed in late March, and all celebration plans will be finalized by the end of April. (TYH-THN)
(This article originally appeared in the “United Daily News” March 14, 2010.)