Going “Wild” on December 7th – Country without Violence, Strawberries March Foward

The Wild Strawberries Movement at Liberty Square held a meeting with representatives from all over Taiwan in preparation for the “Going ‘Wild’ on December 7th” rally. Wild Strawberries across the country will once again meet at Liberty Square for its strongest showing yet to counter the government’s arrogance and apathy thus far.

“Going ‘Wild’ on December 7th” is the theme of this rally. The month-long Wild Strawberries Movement would like to demonstrate its “wildness” to its supporters and the arrogant Administration; the Wild Strawberries have not given up and the movement has continued to grow. Since its inception, the Wild Strawberries have upheld the same pleas and ideals - “Apology [for rights violations], Resignation [of responsible officials], and Amendment [of Parade & Assembly Law]”. This rally will serve as an opportunity for Taiwanese citizens to experience the Wild Strawberries’ explosive strength and for the government to hear the consolidated angry voices of the Wild Strawberries. More importantly, the Wild Strawberries maintains its appeal that the government directly responds to the public and the Wild Strawberries, and stop state sanctioned power abuse.

The Wild Strawberries will only “voluntarily report” plans to hold the December 7th rally to law enforcement authorities instead of waiting for the ineffective Legislative Yuan to amend the Parade and Assembly Law’s approval requirement. The rally route will be provided to the Zhongzheng First District of the Taipei City Police Department in order for the police to direct traffic accordingly. We sincerely hope that law enforcement authorities will safeguard rather than trample on our freedom to assemble with violent tactics. The Wild Strawberries will also send out a team of individuals to maintain order.

The December 7th rally participants will consist of students for the most part, but also cordially invite all private citizens who support our endeavors. In addition to the students, academics and NGOs have signed up for the rally, with over a thousand expected rally participants. Students from the Wild Strawberries Movement will be responsible for maintaining order of the movement. We will hold a pre-rally press conference to explain the itinerary and to promote the principle of non-violent civil disobedience; our goal is to hold the rally under the principles of peace, rationality, and non-violence.

The route for the December 7th rally will begin with Liberty Square, and continue on to the National Police Agency, the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, and the Presidential Office. The Wild Strawberries will have different activities at each location. The “Country without Violence, Wild Strawberries March Forward” march will commence at 1 p.m. from Liberty Square and we look forward to your participation.