David on Formosa

A march around Taiwan calling for a referendum on any Taiwan-China agreement and amendments to the Referendum Law began in Taipei this morning. Several hundred people wearing “doli” (bamboo hats) set out from Longshan Temple to begin a seven week long walk around Taiwan.

The walk has the slogan “The people are the masters” (人民做主) emphasizing the right of the people to make decisions on issues of national importance via a referendum. A translation of the movement’s demands is available here.

The Nuke-4 Referendum Initiative Association (核四公投促進會) and other civil society groups are leading the march. LinYi-hsiung (林義雄) initiated the march. Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), former National Youth Commission chair, pictured above is one of the spokespeople for the movement.

More details of the walk including the planned route are available in Chinese at www.nuke4.com. The walk will go around Taiwan in an anti-clockwise direction finishing in Taipei on 27 December.

Former Vice-President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) was amongst the walkers as the march passed through Ximending.

*More photos in the march for referendum set at flickr.