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Double Ten day a go: Wang

Double Ten National Day celebrations will go ahead as usual, unless security issues concerning a planned anti-President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) protest become more serious, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.

Wang made the remarks after convening a meeting of the celebratory organizing committee, held after private talks with some of the protest organizers.

"The committee will continue to organize the celebration, but the committee may also call it off at anytime for security reasons," Wang said.

Some pan-green lawmakers had suggested that the celebrations be canceled as protesters led by former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) have threatened to besiege the Presidential Office on the day as a way to humiliate the president.

Chien Hsi-chien, an organizer of the protest, said that the plan was to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to prevent Chen from leaving and entering the Presidential Office.

Officials with the national security agencies had also suggested that Wang cancel the celebrations, to which Wang replied on Tuesday that he would only do that if it proved difficult to ensure safety.

"I spoke to Shih's camp and they promised that there would not be any security problems on Double Ten Day. With that, the committee decided not to cancel the celebrations for the time being," Wang said.

"The organizing committee will keep an eye on the situation and reassess it. In the meantime, we urge all people to consider the country's image as the celebrations will be broadcast around the world," Wang added.
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