10 October 2018•Update: 11 October 2018
By Cansu Dikme
TAIPEI, Taiwan
Taiwan on Wednesday celebrated its 107th foundation anniversary in Taipei with a ceremony full of excitement and joy.
October 10 -- Taiwan’s Double Ten National Day -- marks the start of the Wuchang Uprising on Oct. 10, 1911, which led to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty in China and the formation of Taiwan on Jan. 1, 1912.
Since Chinese nationalist leaders fled to Taiwan in 1949 after a civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists, the People's Republic of China has seen the region as a breakaway province that will eventually return.
The celebration started with the flag-raising and the public singing of the national anthem outside the president’s office.
Legislative Yuan President Jia-chyuan Su and the chairman of World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce, Wan-feng Yu, addressed the gathering prior to President Tsai Ing-wen.
A military parade followed the president's speech to the hundreds of people attending ceremony together with a marching band and a procession of people from various occupations as well as traditional dance shows.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have been mounting since President Tsai Ing-wen's traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won the January 2016 election.
Apart from the improvement in unofficial links over the recent years, Beijing suspended regular dialogue in June 2016 following Tsai’s election.
