Members of a group supporting the idea that “the people are the master of the country” finished a walk around Taiwan, which started at Taipei City’s Lungshan Temple on Nov. 8, reaching their starting point yesterday after walking about 1,030km.
Lin I-hsiung (林義雄), a long-time democracy stalwart and former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman who initiated the campaign, urged the public to pay attention to its appeal.
Having staged nationwide marches in 1994, 1997 and 2002 to call for a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant that is currently under construction, this time Lin organized the march after a proposal by the DPP to hold a plebiscite on the government’s plan to sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China was rejected by the Cabinet’s Referendum Review Committee.
The walk called for a referendum on any cross-strait agreements, including an ECFA, and amendments to some articles of the Referendum Law (公民投票法), which members of the group said repressed rather than ensured people’s right to hold a referendum.
During the last leg of the march from the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to Lungshan Temple yesterday, participants took a break at Da-an Forest Park, with those who walked more than 800km in 49 days sharing their experiences.
Chen Li-kuei (陳麗貴) said she attended the campaign to express her wish that the government let the people of Taiwan determine the country’s destiny.
“It’s an ingenuous plan of action and we behaved with the strictest discipline to earn the approval of others. No matter where we were, in every corner of Taiwan, there were people joining us or giving us donations. We felt really appreciated and will continue our efforts,” Chen said.
Lin Min-da (林銘達), a retired teacher who found walking difficult, said he started to practice walking everyday when he heard of the campaign six months before it began.
“I am worried that beautiful Taiwan will be sold out if people do not come forward to fight for self-determination,” Lin said.
Chiang Liang-min (江良民), who has fourth stage colorectal cancer, said that this “silent” and “peaceful” campaign was more effective than fierce opposition.
During the campaign, participants were required to wear the same T-shirt and leaf hats and were prohibited from talking, smoking or eating while walking.
Hsu Fan-ting (許芳庭), who completed the whole journey, said she believed that any goal could be achieved peacefully through perseverance, while violence would only cause more violence.
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