The Taiwan Society said yesterday that it is going to hold an indoor rally in Kaohsiung tomorrow to expand the "local culture movement" to southern Taiwan.
Society president Wu Shuh-min (
Wu said that the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) "colonial culture," which began after World War II, has resulted in "misconceptions" about local culture and national identity.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
Yang Wen-chia (楊文嘉), the society's secretary-general, said that the public has been influenced by the KMT's historical view of Oct. 25 as "Taiwan Retrocession Day," but that Taiwan's true restoration has yet to come.
The public has been granted only limited room for reform and promotion of Taiwanese consciousness, Yang said.
Calling the rally "At the Moment of Dawn," Yang said such a cultural movement is being held to symbolize a "refusal to be led by the forces of darkness" and "to heat up Taiwanese consciousness."
The event will also show how many people who had remained silent in the past finally rose up to fight and overcome these forces, he added.
A number of radio program hosts and hostesses from regional radio stations will be invited to the rally, as they are representative of the media on which "local political discourse has long depended on," he said, adding that these media organs have long been marginal-ized by mainstream media.
Democratic Progressive Party Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chu (陳菊) has promised to attend the rally, Yang said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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