San Francisco’s Double Ten Celebration Committee hosted a Flag Raising Ceremony on Oct. 7 to celebrate the upcoming 112th anniversary of Taiwan National Day on Oct. 10. The ceremony lasted from 10:10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Santa Clara County Building Square and offered a variety of performances, the raising of both Taiwan’s and America’s flags as well as speeches from local officials. The performances included Dragon dances, martial arts acts and traditional Chinese fan dances. Many of the performances featured young performers who trained locally at Bay Area dance schools.
Ling Sun, one of the three flag women in the Ten Ten celebration, has participated in this event for six years. According to Sun, some performers practiced for almost an entire year before the actual event. Sun has celebrated Taiwan National Day her whole life, and sees it as a serious but joyful day.
Senator Dave Cortese, who hosted the celebration before becoming a senator and still returns annually, states that the Double Ten celebration has one of the biggest turnouts in Santa Clara for any flag-raising event.
“So why is celebrating Taiwan Ten Ten Day so important?” Cortese said. “It’s important because it’s one of the major democracies that we have been able to count on. Taiwan has remained a beacon of democracy, human rights [and] freedom.”
