KMT plans protest against changes to CKS Memorial Hall

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) plans to stage a demonstration next Saturday to show its anger over the government campaign to change the titles of state-owned corporations, remove statues of former dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and make major changes to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

KMT John Chiang (蔣孝嚴), who is the grandson of Chiang Kai-shek and the son of former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), told a press conference that the party would lead the demonstration from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to CKS Memorial Hall.

The demonstration will start at 3pm, he said.

`OPPRESSION'

"We urge the silent public, who suffer from the oppression of the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], to step up [and join the demonstration] on March 17," John Chiang said.

"We should take action against a series of reckless campaigns launched by the DPP," he said.

John Chiang voiced his exasperation after the Cabinet earlier last week decided to rename the CKS Memorial Hall and demolish the walls surrounding its park.

"We would like to show our strong dissatisfaction with the DPP because its recent campaign has stirred up ethnic conflict and incited division in the nation," John Chiang said.

GOAL

"Our goal is clear: We oppose incitement of division and hatred [in the country]," he said.

KMT whip Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) said all of the KMT legislators and the party headquarters would support the demonstration.

The KMT caucus disapproves of any changes to current regulations related to the CKS Memorial, Tseng added.

In related news, during the legislative procedure committee meeting yesterday, the pan-blue camp blocked an amendment proposal to the Postal Law (郵政法) -- which seeks to legitimize the name change of the Chunghwa Post Co (中華郵政) to the Taiwan Post Co (臺灣郵政) -- from being put to on the agenda.

The state-owned enterprise formally changed its title last Wednesday.

Other were also blocked, including the long-stalled bill concerning nominations for the Control Yuan and a DPP-initiated amendment to the Statute for Handling of and Compensation for the 228 Incident (二二八事件處理及補償條例) to determine legal responsibility for the incident.