The Overseas Solidarity Movement
Solidarity rallies for the Sunflower Movement were held in in over 50 cities in over 21 countries, primarily organized by overseas Taiwanese
Organizing efforts to raise awareness of the Sunflower Movement internationally and to hold solidarity rallies for the Sunflower Movement were spearheaded primarily by Taiwanese overseas students in collaboration with longstanding advocacy organizations of the Taiwanese diaspora, such as FAPA (台灣人公共事務會) in America.
Overseas Taiwanese students held activities in Michigan, London, NYC, Seattle, Japan, and other places. Over two thousand participated in activities across all of Europe. Solidarity activities for 330 were held in over 50 cities, in over 21 countries. [1] Major rallies included over 700 rallying in Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, over 700 in London, and 500 in Hong Kong. This originally came together through organizing for overseas Taiwanese students online. Indeed, major groups which were participants in the movement itself, such as Le Flanc Radical, had originally been formed similarly—Le Flanc Radical having originally formed out of a blog started by overseas Taiwanese students in France and eventually steered itself in the direction of trying to become a political party.
Photo credit: Enbion Micah Aan (洪延平)
New groups which emerged from the overseas movement including the American wing of Cafe Philo, which eventually began to hold talks and discussions in New York City and other locations on a weekly basis, and Overseas Taiwanese For Democracy (海外台灣青年), which primarily consisted of Taiwanese students in the US and was later able to hold nationwide conferences. Both organizations continue to exist today and crucial networks for overseas mobilizations. In the event of future events on the scale of the Sunflower Movement, one expects mobilizations to be much faster, given that these networks now exist.
[1] Lin Huijin 林暉鈞. Geming de zuofa: Cong 318 taiyang hua kan gongmin yundong de chuangzaoxing 革命的做法：從318太陽花看公民運動的創造性. Psygarden 心靈工坊, Taipei (2015). Taipei. Print. P. 244.
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