For the dozens tightly gathered and wrapped in green at the corner of Congress Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard Saturday, neither the rain nor the cold wind was enough to prevent an international call for independence for their friends and family across the sea.
The rally was one of many around the globe protesting a Chinese law passed March 14 that would authorize the communist dictatorship to take back the island of Taiwan with force if it tries to gain official independence by public declaration.
According to reports from Taiwan, one million people protested against Chinese reunification in the streets of capital Taipei Saturday, including the self-ruled country's democratically elected president Chen Shui-bian. Other rallies were held in Houston and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
"Today the Taiwanese stand out in the whole world to show Taiwan is Taiwan and China is China," said Yea-Ling Yeah, president of the Austin Taiwanese Association.
While appearing to be a drop in the sea of anti-China green that was the Taipei march, the 90 or so protestors holding "Say 'no' to China" and "China sucks" signs outside the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum shouted and sang with no less passion.
Lily Bradberry, who moved from Taiwan to America in 1992, brought her five children, ages 2 to 11, to the rally. Her father was imprisoned by Chinese Nationalists for six years in the mid-1940s after he was deceived into breaking a law held by an outgoing Japanese regime that left the country after World War II. The Nationalists retreated to Taiwan after their defeat by the communists in 1949. Taiwan was ruled by the Nationalists until the early 1990s, when democracy began to spread on the island. China considers Taiwan's current government illegitimate.
Until learning of her father's imprisonment at his funeral last year, Lily had considered herself "blue" - a term used to describe Taiwanese support of the status quo of eventual reunification. She now openly wears green, the color representing independence.
"We're not just talking about a political issue," said Bradberry. "We are also talking about a human rights issue. The Taiwanese people never had the right to tell whether they want to be Chinese or not."
Even though the United States has pledged assistance to Taiwan in the case of a Chinese attack, Chin-Long Shu, president of Austin's chapter of the Formosan Association of Public Affairs, an anti-unification lobby group, said that it is a "balance act" due to the United States' financial ties to China. But he said that more support would be in the best interest of the United States and Japan militarily, due to Taiwan's location.
"It's not just morally correct, it's also strategically important," he said.
The day after China passed the anti-secession law, the U.S. House passed a resolution expressing "grave concern" regarding the law. The European Union also delayed an expected lifting of a 1989 arms embargo with China following the anti-secession law's passage.
A Taiwanese freedom song featuring a choir of children singing "Hold hands and connect the hearts, the flower drops on the ground, and the seed will grow" played during the rally. For Jen Wu, 38, who moved to Austin from Taiwan in 1992, the song showed that the long fight for independence would help future generations the most.
"We want to take care of Taiwan so our next generation will grow healthy and strong," said Wu.
Po-Ling, 28, an accounting graduate student, accompanied a handful of other UT students at the rally. He said he will return to Taiwan in December after completing his degree.
"The only purpose of our army is to protect ourselves from China," he said. "China is the only enemy of Taiwan."
