and former president
Chiang Kai-shek presiding over the 1966 Double Ten celebrations. During the establishment of the
Republic of China, Taiwan and Penghu were under
Japanese rule, which began in 1895. In 1945, after surrender of the
Empire of Japan in
World War II, Taiwan and Penghu were 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 (NT$70 million) were reallocated for reconstruction of the damage done by
Typhoon Morakot. In 2022 former President
Ma Ying-jeou, who opposes the styling of the holiday as Taiwan National Day, publicly called for current President
Tsai Ing-wen to stop using the name Taiwan National Day in material associated with the holiday. His view was criticized by
Robert Tsao as obsolete. Because of the lack of direct relations between the origin of the holiday and Taiwan in modern Taiwan the holiday is widely believed to be slightly absurd but is still widely celebrated.
National Day Military Parade File:1950 Double Ten Day.jpg|1950 File:1965 Double Ten Parade Taipei.jpg|1965: Students holding
Sun Yat-sen placards File:M41 in Double Ten Day military parade 1966-10-10.jpg|1966:
Republic of China Army M41 light tanks parade in front of the Presidential Office File:October 10 2011Taiwancelebrationpic8.jpg|2011: Marching cadets from the
ROC Military Academy Traditionally, the
Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF) have staged a military parade. During prior parades, troops and equipment march 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 request permission from the President to commence the parade proper. Until 1975, the President also inspected the parade formations while riding a vehicle, as each battalion of the parade formations presented arms in the presence of the President and all the unit colours and guidons also dipped in their presence. After all the units in the ground column marched past the grandstand, they would reassemble at the center of the road for a holiday address delivered by the President to the ROCAF and the country, marking the close of the parade. 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 (now
New Taipei City), killing both pilots. The parade was not held again until 1971 (the 60th anniversary), 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 the tradition of an exclusively-military parade to include personnel from civil uniformed services.
Full order of march past for National Day Parades until 1991 Until 1991, following the opening report by the Parade commander, usually a lieutenant general or vice admiral of the ROCAF, the massed military bands of the ROC Armed Forces, led by the Senior Drum Major, would take their positions in the parade, playing the ROC Armed Forces March, a medley of the official songs of the service branches of the armed forces. Then the parade would march past, in the following sequence, with minor variations over the years:
Ground column • ROC Armed Forces Joint Honor 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 (including
Republic of China Marine Corps) • 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 (formed part in past parades of the 1970s and 1980s)
Flypast The parade's flypast segment was for many years organized in like manner as in the
Bastille Day military parade. First, while the honor guard departs from the presidential grandstand the training, fighter and transport aircraft of the ROC Air Force, the transport and anti-submarine aircraft of ROCN Naval Aviation and transport planes of ROCA Army Aviation fly past first, followed by the helicopters of all three service branches, together with those of the
National Police Agency,
National Fire Agency and
Coast Guard Administration after the ground column segment is concluded.
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 (as of 2016): • 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 (order as of 1991, 2007, 2011 and 2016 parades) • 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 (mobile missile and gun systems and truck-towed systems) • Towed guns of the field artillery • Self propelled artillery (MRLs and self-propelled guns) • 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 Alongside the military and civil security mobile column, in the parades of the 70s and 80s and in more recent parades, a civil mobile column is present, composed of vehicles from the automobile and truck companies, state-owned firms, and the private sector. ==Celebrations outside the Republic of China==