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Pro-independence group lauds Demos Chiang for remarks

A pro-independence group yesterday praised a great grandson of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) for identifying with Taiwan, but urged the Chiang family to decide soon where to inter Chiang and his son, president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).

Describing Demos Chiang (蔣友柏) as the only offspring of the Chiang family that deserves recognition and respect, Peter Wang (王獻極), head of the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign, told the press conference that he was "touched" by Demos Chiang, who said his heart was at home in Taiwan.

Wang said he welcomed Demos Chiang's view of himself as Taiwanese and invited him to be the group's spokesman.

Wang also called on the government to recruit Demos Chiang as head of the Mainland Affairs Council or Straits Exchange Foundation, saying he would not sell out the nation.

Demos Chiang said on Tuesday that he agreed to a certain degree with the government's recent actions to remove symbols of his great grandfather's rule because it would prevent the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from using his family's name as a tool to manipulate the public in the future.

He also said that the government should decide whether the resting place of his grandfather and great grandfather is a national affair. If the government does not want to treat the issue as the burial of national leaders, it will become a family matter.

Wang referred to Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo as "bandits," adding that they did not deserve the title of president -- either of the Republic of China or the Republic of Taiwan.

Their burials are therefore a family affair, Wang said.

Regardless of whether the family wants to bury them in China or Taiwan, Wang said he believed the public would be happy to help the family.

Wang said that Chiang Kai-shek was the main culprit of the 228 Incident, adding that he could be forgiven for committing atrocities, but that his acts could not be forgotten.

Wang said Demos Chiang had put Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other KMT officials to shame.
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