賴弘典 | Hong Tien Lai

中文 | English

Passport to Taiwan

住在大紐約地區台美人社群的台灣人，近二十多年來，大概都曾經歷過每年兩次的台灣人社區大活動；即（1）五月間在Union Square舉辦的 「Passport to Taiwan」，以及（2）九月的「台灣加入聯合國運動」或「UN for Taiwan」 (Keep Taiwan Free) 街頭大遊行。 這兩項活動，性質並不相同；「Passport to Taiwan」 是純粹為介紹台灣文化為目的，而「UN for Taiwan」 (Keep Taiwan Free) 則是為爭取台灣在國際社會上的被認同而走上街頭的政治運動，雖然表面上目的不同，其實兩則卻係出同源。

故事必須回到1992年的夏天，回台打拼，剛選上立委的蔡同榮教授暑期回紐約探親時，召集了昔日同伴，遊說大家，為了突破當時國民黨政府的鎖國政策，來推動以「台灣」的名義加入聯合國。 為此，大紐約地區近十個台灣人社團，在「大紐約區台灣人社團聯合會」（Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York Inc. TAC/GNY) 的召集下，成立「台灣加入聯合國行動委員會」(Committe for Admission of Taiwan to the United Nations, CATUN )，開始籌劃，並決定在1993年九月的第二個星期二，即每年聯合國會議的開幕日，開始舉行街頭活動。 那個年代，國際社會上提到「台灣」這個名字，幾乎沒有人聽過。 剛開始的幾年，連在警察局申請遊行許可，都需要一段令人氣餒的解說，在街頭上也常常被問Taiwan ? Thailand ? 在這種困擾下，如何提高「台灣」的能見度，也變成活動主要目標之一。 我們雖然想出一些花樣，如花車遊行，聖火長跑，等來吸引國際社會的注意，可是效果非常有限。 2000年初，適逢Clinton 總統再次發表 proclamation 定調每年五月為 American Asian Heritage month，才開始另以文化活動來提高台灣的能見度的發想，開始籌劃並訂五月的一個周末為「台灣傳統日」，在Union Square舉行文化活動加「台灣小吃」；第一次就吸引了相當多的人群聚集，相當成功。 2002年的夏天，我與一群朋友計劃了一個禮拜遠征西岸的高爾夫球之旅。當我們到達 Scottsdale，Arizona 住宿時，我順便到附近走走。發現路旁有個sign，上面寫著「passport to Italy」。 我好奇地順著sign 彎幾個彎，走進一個廣場，原來就是像festivity 的 Flea market, 裡面盡是賣義大利的食物及衣服小物。我走了一圈後開始發想；原來festivity 也可以這樣命名！ 於是在台灣傳統週的籌備會中提出命名為「passport to Taiwan」 的建議並得到了大家的同意， 才正式定名為「Passport to Taiwan」。 從此每年五月有Passport to Taiwan, 九月間仍然繼續「UN For Taiwan」 （約十年前加上口號 Keep Taiwan Free)的遊行活動。 大紐約台灣同鄉會的歷屆會長也把Passport to Taiwan 列為同鄉會的主要活動之一，促進了此後每年五月，在紐約Union Square 萬人朝聖的台灣人節慶。

賴弘典 （社團聯合會召集人）
六月 2025 / 八月 2025 修改

中文 | English

Passport to Taiwan

For the past twenty some years, Taiwanese living in the Taiwanese American community in the Greater New York area have probably experienced two major Taiwanese events each year: (1) the Passport to Taiwan event held in Union Square in May, and (2) the movement of UN membership for Taiwan or UN for Taiwan (Keep Taiwan Free) street parade in September. These two events are different in nature; Passport to Taiwan is purely for the purpose of introducing Taiwanese culture, while UN for Taiwan (Keep Taiwan Free) is a political movement that takes to the streets to gain recognition for Taiwan in the International community. Although the goals are different on the surface, the two events actually have the same origin.

The story must go back to the summer of 1992. When Professor Trong Tsai, one of the leader of “Oversea Taiwan Independent movement”, returned to Taiwan and got elected as a legislator. He returned to New York to visit his family during the break, at the time, Professor Tsai gathered his former comrade and lobbied everyone to start the movement to promote UN membership for Taiwan. The goal was to break through the isolation policy of the then Kuomintang government. So there were ten Taiwanese organizations (Associations) in the Greater New York area gathered, called by the Taiwanese American Council of Greater New York Inc. (TAC/GNY) to establish the Committee for Admission of Taiwan to the United Nations (CATUN) and began planning, and decided to start holding street activities on the second Tuesday of September 1993, which is the opening day of the annual United Nations Assembly meeting. At that time, when the name of “Taiwan” was mentioned, almost no one had heard of it, even applying for a parade permit at the police station required a frustrating explanation, and people were often confused on the street. “Taiwan? Thailand?” They asked. Under such circumstance, “how to increase the visibility of Taiwan” became one of the main goals of the movement. For the first few years, we came up with some ideas to increase visibility, such as float parades and torch running, but the effect was very limited. Later, it happened to learn in the Spring of 2000, when President Clinton delivered a proclamation which made “May” as 『American Asian Heritage month』， the idea of ​​using cultural activities to increase Taiwan’s visibility started. So one weekend in May was planned and designated as Taiwanese Heritage Day and started a festivity with cultural activities and Taiwanese food, was held in Union Square, it was a big hit for the first event. In the Summer of 2002, when a group of friends and I planned a week-long golf trip to the West Coast. When we arrived in Scottsdale, Arizona, I took a walk around the area. I found a sign on the side of the road that read “passport to Italy”. Curious, I followed the sign and walked into a square. It turned out to be a flea market like festival, with Italian food and clothing items sold inside. After walking around, I began to think: what’s a clever way to name the festivity ! So at the coming preparatory meeting of Taiwan Heritage Week, the suggestion of naming it as “passport to Taiwan” was proposed and everyone agreed. So the festival was formally named Passport to Taiwan. Since then, there has been a Passport to Taiwan in May, and the UN For Taiwan parade in September ever since. The successive presidents of the Taiwanese American Association of Greater New York have listed Passport to Taiwan as one of the main activities of the association, whichis one of the main driving forces to make this event so successful. Passport to Taiwan has enhanced the visibility of Taiwan, and also attracts tens of thousands people to make a pilgrimage to Union Square New York in May for the Taiwanese festival every year.

Dr. Hong Tien Lai (Coordinator, TAC/GNY)
June, 2025 / August, 2025 revised