After 16 years, DPP has matured

In 16 years, the DPP has grown from a toddler into a young man.

The party displayed its vitality during a sports event as it celebrated its anniversary yesterday.

When it was founded, the party was a humble, underground group on Taiwan's political fringe. Now it is the largest in the legislature and the nation has a DPP president.

These accomplishments did not come easily.

"The birth of the DPP did not occur by chance. Rather, it was built on the blood, tears and lives of those who came before us. Without the DPP, Taiwan would have accomplished no democratic achievements," said DPP Chairman and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Chen made the comment at a celebration Friday at the Grand Hotel, where the party was launched in 1986.

An official at the Presidential Office who has worked closely with the movement since the tang-wai era hailed the party and its efforts to forge a national identity.

As he compared the DPP to "a train switching track," the official said the party's primary contribution has been changing the government from one that is China-oriented to one that is Taiwan-centered.

"The DPP has outlined a clear national goal for Taiwan -- namely, to make Taiwan a country for Taiwanese. It has reversed the China-focused mind-set of the former KMT administration," the official said.

"Despite its several adjustments of its party line, this goal remains clear. This explains why the DPP has gained popularity."

The official added that in contrast to the KMT, which prefers to look back to its "glorious" past, and the PFP, which is critical yet presents no policies, the DPP is still part of the hope for Taiwanese because it provides the people with a clear national direction.

The DPP has served as a driving force behind the country's democratization with its determination to build a nation belonging to Taiwanese.

The party was launched at the Grand Hotel on Sept. 28, 1986 in defiance of martial law, at a meeting of tang-wai, or non-KMT, activists.

Initially intended to nominate candidates for the elections of legislators and national assembly representatives that year, the meeting turned into the party's inaugural event when the agenda was altered soon after discussions began.

The move was not made recklessly. Political dissidents agreed on the need to found a party, leaving timing as the real issue.

"Those who appeared [at the meeting] were clear that the real purpose of that gathering was to found a party," DPP lawmaker Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) said.

For that reason, many of the attendees were prepared to be arrested, but none of them were intimidated. They had everything arranged. More people would come to their rescue if comrades were arrested.

Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), one of the leaders at the meeting, insisted on the name "Democratic Progressive Party." He argued that the addition of "Taiwan" to the title would seem territorial and make it difficult to appeal to mainlanders.

Without a clear party organization, the DPP was formally founded when the 132 members present signed its inaugural document. Many of them were family members or defense lawyers of political prisoners and dissidents who had risked their freedom and their lives for democratization.

Although outraged by the formation of the DPP, the KMT did not order any arrests partly because then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) had come to realize that it was inevitable that Taiwan would be ruled by Taiwanese and that a crackdown would only lead to further agitation by tang-wai dissidents.