Prominent Sunflower movement leader Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) does not see eye-to-eye with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on major issues, he said in an interview this week, where he reasserted his advocacy for Taiwan to become a sovereign, independent nation.
The 26-year-old is a graduate student at National Taiwan University’s Department of Political Science and helps guide the Taiwan March organization, which aims to cultivate grassroots support through lectures and rallies in central and southern Taiwan.
He spoke with Taipei-based Wealth magazine in an interview published on Wednesday. In a recent survey conducted by the magazine, Lin topped the poll as the most popular choice in the “Taiwan’s Future Political Leader” category, which the magazine said reflects the public’s hopes for the younger generation to steer the nation’s future.
Lin said that groups and the alliance of civic organizations forged during the Sunflower movement should come together to form a political force to push for progress.
“In the future, this force will compete against the major political parties,” he said, adding that he would not run in this year’s elections.
He said that the citizens’ groups do not have any formal links with the DPP — although there has been collaboration on some issues — and have no dialogue with most main DPP executives.
Lin said that he disagrees with the party’s stance on several major issues and questioned whether its core values have changed. He singled out DPP whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) and former chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) by questioning their core values and positions on key issues.
He cited the difference of views some citizens’ groups had with the party in reference to the visit by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍), the proposal to freeze the Taiwan independence clause in the DPP’s charter and the government’s plan to establish free economic pilot zones to promote trade with China.
Lin said he is disappointed that “the DPP chose [former premier] Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) to run in the New Taipei City mayoral race. It shows that the party is becoming rigid. This should be an opportunity for the younger generation to field a candidate who is capable of getting things done.”
However, Lin does not rule out cooperation with the party in the Nov. 29 elections.
“We will maintain some flexibility and not stick to iron-clad rules on only supporting candidates if they fulfill a set of standards,” he said.
“We should maintain our autonomy when cooperating. If people give the party the power to rule, it does not mean we forfeit the right to have checks and balances and the right to make criticism,” he said.
Lin reasserted his advocacy for Taiwan to become a sovereign nation, for which it should not be constrained by a constitution that is in tatters and full of holes.
“Taiwan and China are in a nation-to-nation relationship. It is not ‘one country, two areas’ (一國兩區) as espoused by [President] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” he said.
“The current constitutional framework creates many ambiguities, which lead to absurd situations. It prevents Taiwan from having normal dealings with other countries and restricts us from having normal ties with China. On this, we are not opposed to establish friendly relationships with China,” Lin added.
In response, DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said the party respects Lin’s personal views on political issues and that it has dialogue and interaction with the various groups.
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