National Day of the Republic of China
The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is the national day of the Republic of China. It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising of 10 October 1911, which led to the end of the Qing Dynasty in China and establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912.
During the course of the Chinese Civil War, the government of the Republic of China lost control of mainland China, fleeing to the Island of Taiwan in December 1949. The National Day is now mainly celebrated in ROC-controlled Taiwan, but is also celebrated by many overseas Chinese.
Celebration in Taiwan
During the establishment of the ROC, Taiwan was under Japanese rule, which began in 1895. In 1945, after surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II, Taiwan was placed under the control of the ROC.In Taiwan, the official celebration begins with the raising of the flag of the Republic of China in front of the Presidential Office Building, along with a public singing of the National Anthem of the Republic of China. It is then followed by celebrations in front of the Presidential Office Building; from time to time, a military parade may occur. Festivities also include many aspects of traditional Chinese and/or Taiwanese culture, such as the lion dance and drum teams, and cultural features coming from Taiwanese aborigines are integrated into the display in recent years. Later in the day, the president of the Republic of China would address the country and fireworks displays are held throughout the major cities of the island. In 2009, all government sponsored festivities for the Double Ten Day were cancelled, and the money intended for the festivals were reallocated for reconstruction of the damage done by Typhoon Morakot.
National Day Military Parade
In the past, the Republic of China Armed Forces have traditionally put on a military parade. During this parade, troops and equipment are marched past a reviewing platform in front of the Presidential Office Building. Typically, foreign ambassadors, military officers, and other representatives and dignitaries are invited to view the parade. Following the National Anthem and the firing of a 21-gun salute, the parade commander, a general-ranked officer of any of the service branches of the ROCAF, would then be driven to the front of the grandstand to inform the President of the permission to commence the parade proper. The presidential holiday address to the ROCAF and the country was the finale of the parade wherein all the units comprising the ground column, following the march past, reassembles at the center of the road for the address.The parade has been held intermittently during the period of the Republic of China on Taiwan. The military parade on 10 October 1949, was the first public military parade held in Taiwan with Chen Cheng serving as the Grand Review Officer. The 1964 National Day parade was struck by tragedy when a low flying air force F-104 Starfighter fighter aircraft struck a Broadcasting Corporation of China tower, causing the plane's fuel tank to fall and kill three people including a woman and her baby in front of the Central Weather Bureau building in downtown Taipei. The other two remaining F-104 aircraft were ordered to look for the crashed aircraft and accidentally collided and crashed in Tucheng City, Taipei County, killing both pilots. The parade was not held again until 1971, while the mobile column and flypast segments returned in 1975. When Chen Shui-bian became president, the parade was not held until 2007 and then it was entitled a "Celebration Drill" and not a traditional military parade. Since Ma Ying-jeou became president, one parade has been held on the centenary celebrations of the Double Tenth Day, and another on the 105th, the only one under Tsai Ing-wen's presidency.
The tradition of shouting Long Live the Republic of China! at the end of the addresses by the president of the Republic of China was not held for the first time in 2016. It was also the very year that fire and police services joined the parade for the first time in history, breaking a tradition of a purely-military parade to include personnel from civil uniformed services.
List of Republic of China National Day Parades
Parade Year | Exercise Name | Grand Review Officer | Venue | Parade Commander | Number of Troops | Remarks |
2016 | Tsai Ing-wen | Taipei | 2,500+ | |||
2011 | Ma Ying-jeou | Taipei | 1,000+ | The centennial event featured a skydiving show of 12 paratroopers of the Army Airborne Training Center above the plaza in front of the Presidential Office. Military parade involving 1,000+ personnel, 71 aircraft and 168 vehicles. On the part of the ground troops only the ROCAF Honor Guard Battalion and the ROCAF Composite Headquarters Band joined the parade on behalf of the armed forces. | ||
2007 | 同慶操演 | Chen Shui-bian | Taipei | Wu Sihuai | 3,000 | Exhibitions presented on national defense, non-traditional military parade |
1991 | 華統演習 | Lee Teng-hui | Taipei | Ro Wenshan | 12,566 | ROC Eightieth Anniversary |
1988 | 光武演習 | Lee Teng-hui | Taipei | Chen Tingchong | 13,166 | ROC Seventy-Seventh Anniversary |
1987 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | It was the last military parade held during Chiang Ching-kuo's administration. It was held on October 11, the day after the Double Ten Day celebrations due to Chiang's ailing condition. | |||
1986 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ROC Seventy-Fifth Anniversary | |||
1982 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ||||
1981 | 漢武演習 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | Hsu Li-nung | 11,966 | ROC Seventieth Anniversary |
1980 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | ||||
1979 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | Ground column only present, air flypast and military mobile column cancelled | |||
1978 | 漢威演習 | Chiang Ching-kuo | Taipei | Chiang Chung-ling | Flypast cancelled due to rainy weather | |
1975 | 大漢演習 | Yen Chia-kan | Taipei | Zhang Jiajun | ||
1971 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | First parade after 6 years absence, marked the 60th Anniversary of the ROC, ground column only present | |||
1964 | 興漢演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Hau Pei-tsun | Two F-104 aircraft collided after an air formation, killing both pilots | |
1963 | 復漢演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Yuan Guo-Zheng | 15,370 | |
1961 | 復興演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Cheng Wei-yuan | ROC Fiftieth Anniversary | |
1960 | 鼎興演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Chu Yuan-Cong | ||
1957 | 中興演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Hu Xin | 12,000 | |
1956 | 光復演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Liu Dinghan | 21,500 | |
1955 | 光華演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Cheng Wei-yuan | ||
1954 | n/a | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Xu Rucheng | Artillery battle underway in Quemoy. Flyby aircraft requisitioned for defense of Quemoy. | |
1953 | n/a | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Zhou Yuhuan | 19,000 | |
1952 | 復華演習 | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Tang Shou-chi | 10,046 | |
1951 | n/a | Chiang Kai-shek | Taipei | Ai Ai | ROC Fortieth Anniversary | |
1949 | n/a | Chen Cheng | Taipei | Unknown | First military parade held in Taiwan under the control of the Republic of China. |
Full order of march past for National Day Parades until 1991
Until 1991, following the opening report, and as the joint service honor guard marches off, the massed military bands of the ROCAF, led by the Senior Drum Major, then will have to take their positions as the guard of honor left the grandstand with the bands playing the ROCAF March, a medley of the official songs of the service branches of the armed forces. Then with the bands now in place the parade march past follows in the following manner:Ground column
- National Armed Forces Joint Color Guard
- Parade commander and staff
- Joint Division of Armed Forces Academies
- * Republic of China Military Academy
- * Republic of China Naval Academy
- * Republic of China Air Force Academy
- * National Defense University College of Political Warfare Instruction
- * ROC Air Force Institute of Technology
- * Chung-cheng Armed Forces Preparatory School
- * Army Academy R.O.C.
- Contingent of personnel from the service branches
- * ROCA combined divisional formation
- * Composite brigade of ROCN personnel
- * Composite group of ROCAF ground and air defense personnel
- * Republic of China Military Police
- * Republic of China Joint Logistics Command
- * Reserve and militia formations of the Republic of China Armed Forces Reserve
- Female battalion of the College of Political Warfare Instruction
- Drum and Bugle Corps of military educational institutions
- Taiwan Police College
- Joint service guard of honor battalion of the General Headquarters, ROCAF
Flypast
Mobile column
The mobile column, for many years, served as a crowd favorite of National Day civil-military parades, since in this segment the ROC shows off to its people the advanced and modern military equipment and vehicles in service and those being introduced, many of them nationally produced, for use by the servicemen and women of the ROCAF, and since 2016, the state civil security institutions. As in every parade, the ROCMP's motorcycle column leads off the mobile column segment, followed by :- ROCN mobile column
- * Republic of China Marine Corps
- ** Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit
- ** Amphibious Armor Group
- * Coastal and air defense formations of the Republic of China Navy
- Republic of China Air Force mobile column
- * Air defense guns and missiles
- * Equipment and materiel, including air to air missiles
- Mobile column of ROCA formations and equipment
- * Anti-tank weapons
- * Signals
- * Armored cavalry
- * CBRN defense
- * ROCA Corps of Engineers
- * Motorized and mechanized infantry
- * Armored formations
- * Logistical and combat support
- * Air defense and missiles
- * Towed guns of the field artillery
- * Self propelled artillery
- * Disaster risk and response vehicles and equipment for calamity response operations
- National Police Agency
- * Criminal Investigation Bureau vehicles and equipment
- * NPA National Highway Police
- * Mobile vehicles of the NPA's Special Police Corps
- National Fire Agency vehicles and equipment
- Coast Guard Administration small marine equipment and vehicles