A pro-independence group will hold an “anti-unification” rally at the Da-an Forest Park in Taipei today, the day incoming president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) assumes office.
Thousands of people will be mobilized to participate in the rally to voice their disagreement with unification with China or Taiwan’s annexation and their desire to build a country for the Taiwanese people, said Lee Cheng-hsien (李政憲), vice chairman of the Taiwan Jianguo Union (TJU).
Lee told reporters that participants will take 200 buses from Kaohsiung to the rally site.
Lee also said that he would stay in the southern port city to express the organization’s ideals of seeking independence to Ma when the new president hosts a state banquet at a Kaohsiung hotel after his inauguration ceremony.
Ma’s inaugural ceremony will be held in Taipei, with nearly 530 foreign dignitaries attending.
After the inauguration Ma and members of his Cabinet will proceed to Kaohsiung on the High Speed Rail to visit several economic and cultural establishments and attend the banquet.
Lee said that the planned rally aims to convey the group’s ideals and concepts to the international community and is not intended to be a protest against Ma.
For this reason, he said, national security agencies should not “overreact” to the event.
The TJU originally planned to stage a march around Central Park in Kaohsiung this afternoon, but its application was rejected by the Kaohsiung City Government because another group has already secured the location.
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