Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
The DPP has asked its supporters to attend a campaign rally, dubbed "Million People High Five, Come-back Win" to wear their baseball caps backward, flash the thumbs-up sign and exchange high fives.
Participants will form a 1,000km line encircling much of Taiwan, and at 3:14 pm begin a 5km march in a counter-clockwise direction to symbolize "reversing the tide" against the KMT's dominance, which claimed 81 of the 113 legislative seats in the January elections.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The time -- 3:14pm -- was chosen to mark China's enactment of the "Anti-Secession" Law on March 14, 2005.
The KMT is holding simultaneous marches throughout the country, in which participants will wear their caps backward and exchange high fives at 3:14pm.
"It's OK for them to copy [our ideas] as long as it's good for Taiwan," Hsieh at a news conference to promote its campaign rally. "But what's the point of voting for the KMT if it can only follow in the footsteps of the DPP? Why vote for a follower and an imitator?"
Hsieh's running mate, Su Tseng-chang (
Su said KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
For example, after the DPP initiated a referendum to be held alongside the election on joining the UN under the name Taiwan, the KMT "jumped on the bandwagon" and proposed a referendum on regaining UN membership under the name the "Republic of China" or any other "pragmatic" name, Su said.
The KMT yesterday brushed off the DPP's criticism, saying that wearing a hat backward symbolizes an athlete's determination to win by giving his or her last best shot.
"It is a gesture well known to sports lovers. It was not invented by the DPP," KMT communication and cultural committee head Huang Yu-cheng (
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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