The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) continued to solicit support from all sectors of society to take part in a nationwide demonstration set for March 26 to vehemently oppose Beijing's proposed anti-secession law, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
Su called for people of all ages and walks of life to take part in the rally to say "no" to the anti-secession law targeting Taiwan and assert the nation's democratic will. The anti-secession law is expected to be enacted by the Chinese National People's Congress at its ongoing annual session which closes Monday.
Su visited several private groups yesterday to try to broaden the support base for the DPP-initiated nationwide rally, in which some 500,000 people, including and former President Lee Teng-hui (
Among the business executives that Su visited yesterday was Taiwan Federation of Industry Chairman Lee Cheng-chia (李成家), who said that members of his federation will throw their support behind the DPP in its efforts to lead people to oppose the law, which allows "non-peaceful means" to be used should Taiwan move toward permanent or formal independence.
Meanwhile, Lai Ching-teh (
Lai said it hopes that opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Responding to such appeals, KMT Legislator Kuo Su-chun (
Lai further said that the DPP legislative caucus will also initiate a resolution soon to ask all party leaders to take part in a leadership summit to jointly craft countermeasures against the enactment of the anti-secession law.
The March 26 nationwide demonstration will be the largest-ever that the Taiwan people hold to say "no" to China, Lai added.
DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (
Lee pointed out that the tensions in cross-strait relations lie in Beijing's refusal to recognize Taiwan's sovereignty, its threat of force and deployment of missiles which threaten the peace and security of the Taiwan Strait and its harsh methods used to squeeze Taiwan.
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