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TAIPEI, Taiwan - Tens of thousands of protesters waved green flags, played disco music and beat drums in Taiwan's capital Saturday, demanding that the island change its name from the Republic of China to Taiwan in a step toward independence.
A crowd estimated by organizers at 150,000 marched to a wide boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei, where retired President Lee Teng Hui gave a rousing speech favoring the change.
Wearing a white baseball cap in the searing afternoon sun, Lee told the crowd that the Republic of China - which once included the mainland and Taiwan - stopped existing five decades ago when the Communists took over China and renamed it the People's Republic of China.
"The Republic of China no longer has any land," said Lee, who governed the island for 12 years before retiring in 2000. "The Republic of China is just a title."
The 80-year-old Lee did not begin publicly advocating the change until after he retired.
Beijing still claims Taiwan as part of its territory and threatens to use force if the island declares formal independence.
Taiwan's most likely defender, the United States, might not help the island if it appeared to be the one provoking a conflict.
Most of the protesters were native Taiwanese who resented being ruled by Nationalists, the party whose government retreated to Taiwan after losing a civil war to the Communists in 1949. The party insisted that the Republic of China still existed on Taiwan.
But after the Nationalists lost power four years ago, the movement to call the island Taiwan became increasingly vocal.
"Taiwan is a free and democratic country like the United States, but internationally we receive no respect," said Liu Yu Nan, 42, a steel company worker. "Our standing has been damaged by the name "Republic of China' because as long as we keep using this name, we cannot be separated from China."
Current President Chen Shui Bian, who has leaned toward independence, did not attend Saturday's march but said he and his family would have participated if he was not head of state.