Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Lien and Soong, who have teamed up to run in the March presidential election, had been absent from the ceremony for three years after the KMT lost its half-century rule to President Chen Shui-bian (
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Rejecting Chen's invitation to stand by his side during the ceremony, Lien chose to march with thousands of supporters from KMT headquarters, located opposite the Presidential Office, to join the ceremony.
Lien and Soong met at KMT headquarters at around 5am. Crowds started to converge at the square in front of the Presidential Office at around 6am to observe the ceremony, which began at 6:25am.
Lien and Soong also rejected Chen's invitation for a chat in the Presidential Office ahead of the ceremony.
Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), chairman of the New Party, a minor player in the pan-blue camp, accompanied Lien and Soong in the ceremony.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), after hosting a separate flag-raising ceremony in front of the Taipei City Government, jogged to the Presidential Office for the national ceremony.
Ma, known for his rivalry with Chen, stood close behind the president during the ceremony and greeted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) officials.
Meanwhile, Lien and Soong stood hundreds of meters from the Presidential Office and did not have any face-to-face contact with Chen, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) or other DPP heavyweights .
Claiming he would rather stand with people who love the nation, Lien said now is the time to cast away old things and greet new ones.
"We must abandon the old, wrong things of the past. We also must leave our insecurity and unhappiness over past four years behind. We need to unite to fight for victory in the presidential election," Lien said in a speech at KMT headquarters after the ceremony.
"We want to make our country and society safer. We want our economy to prosper. We want economic miracles to appear in Taiwan again," Lien said.
Soong said he was pleased to see the ROC flag flapping in the wind.
"I am convinced the ROC will last forever because of Taiwan's democracy, which allows party rotation," he said.
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