The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday challenged the legitimacy of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) rally, and said the DPP should be ashamed of its corruption record and its indulgence in violent behavior recently.
KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) condemned DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for failing to reject the attendance of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the demonstration. He said Tsai should take full responsibility for any accidents or clashes during the rally, as well as for its lack of legitimacy because of Chen’s participation.
“The destination of the rally was Ketagalan Boulevard, also known as Anti-Corruption Square. It was a huge irony that Chen, who is involved in corruption scandals, walked down to the square with other DPP protesters,” Lee said.
Lee also challenged the DPP for holding a massive rally to protest against the government at a time when Taiwan and other countries around the world were striving to end the global economic crisis.
One of the themes of the DPP’s rally was dissatisfaction with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his administration’s failure to take a tough stance on melamine-tainted food imported from China. Lee said this was a non-issue, as the government was also against bad products imported from China.
The topic of melamine-tainted food and other food safety issues are to be discussed during the upcoming meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), he said.
“The government and the opposition parties did not disagree on the issue of bad Chinese products, and as Taiwanese, we all want the best for Taiwan. We don’t understand the appeals of the DPP in this rally,” he said.
The former DPP government’s incompetence and corruption scandals, and the recent “violent behavior of DPP members,” such as the confrontation between China’s ARATS Vice Chairman Zhang Mingqing (張銘清) and pro-independence advocates in Tainan City last week, “damaged Taiwan’s democracy and should be blamed and protested against,” Lee said.
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