President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said the reason why he demanded the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) change its party emblem is to to break the myth of a one-party state and to carry out the goal of leading Taiwan to become a normal democratic country.
"In the past, the KMT's emblem has mingled with the national emblem in many aspects, which was a result of the KMT acting as it saw fit. Yet it did not mean it was a right thing," Chen said during the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) weekly Central Standing Committee meeting.
"Likewise, I believe that the people of Taiwan wouldn't accept it if the DPP adopted its party emblem as a new national emblem either," Chen said.
Chen also said the former KMT government intentionally used its party emblem when it designed the national emblem so that it could establish a one-party state.
"Those who insist that it is OK to mix the KMT's emblem with the national emblem simply show that they are still haunted with the mindset of favoring a one-party state," Chen said.
"Such a mindset is also the biggest obstacle ... to Taiwan's democratization," he said.
Because the KMT thought the party and the state were one and the same, it had no problem with seizing the nation's assets without giving compensation for the land it acquired. This sort of behavior led the KMT down the road of "black gold" politics, Chen said.
Chen said the KMT seized control of the military, governmental organizations and schools and replaced civic education with party education under the concept of a one-party state, all of which had confused the people of Taiwan about their national identity.
"People cannot help but be angered by what the KMT did to the country during its 50-year rule," he said.
"Fortunately, only a handful of people still indulge in the KMT's kind of obsolete and reactionary thinking," he said. "We would like to declare that the era of one-party rule should come to an end and the DPP will never make the same mistakes the KMT did."
"All political parties are equal before the nation's laws and we will carry out the goal of separating the party from the state, helping Taiwan become a normal and democratic country," he said.
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TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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