Students and members of pro-Taiwanese independence groups yesterday held a “funeral” in Taipei, where they performed last rites for an effigy representing the “corpse” of the Republic of China (ROC), rejecting official Double Ten National Day celebrations and calling for the establishment of the nation of “Taiwan.”
About 200 people gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building and held the ceremony and street theater performances.
The event was organized by university students, members of the band Northbird Singing Revolution and pro-independence groups From Ethnos to Nation (FETN, 蠻番島嶼社) and Nylon’s Canteen (暗暝合作社).
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
FETN member Chen Yu-chang (陳俞璋) presided over the funeral ceremony that involved traditional Taiwanese rituals, saying that the ROC regime was exterminated in 1949 with the Chinese Communist Party’s victory in the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
“Unfortunately, the ROC’s corpse, with its evil, ghoulish spirit ... continues to torment us, sucking our blood to nourish itself and brainwashing people about its legitimacy, even though it is not recognized by the international community. The ROC is an illegal occupying force that took over our island against the wishes of the people,” Chen said.
“Every year on Oct. 10, the government holds rallies and parades to celebrate the so-called Double Ten National Day of the ROC. This is a repugnant religious cult worshiping the ROC’s corpse, which imposes the alien Chinese ideology on us. We must end this deception starting today by performing a proper funeral, and cremate the corpse and send it to the underworld,” he said.
Chen asked people in the crowd to pay their “last respects,” after which wooden sticks were driven into the effigy.
Members of the Free Taiwan Party, the Taiwan Independence Party, the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign, the Taiwan Independence Reformation Association and the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan were also at the event.
Free Taiwan Party Chairman Tsay Ting-Kuei (蔡丁貴) said the Democratic Progressive Party government must do away with the “great lie of the ROC in Taiwan,” because it has led to a dead end and will give China reason to invade Taiwan.
“It is good to see students and young advocates taking the initiative to put on today’s event. With their efforts ... I see hope for building a new Taiwan nation in the near future,” he said.
Chen and Tsay led the crowd in a funeral procession, singing Taiwanese songs and carrying the effigy to Liberty Square.
A small scuffle with the police broke out at the square when the group lit a fire to burn the effigy.
Police doused the fire, leading to pushing and shoving. No arrests were made and the scuffle ended without further incident.
Police said it is against the law to light a fire at the square and to gather for an illegal assembly, to which some of the advocates responded: “The ROC is dead and we do not recognize your illegitimate laws.”
A small group of about a dozen people from the pan-blue camp and pro-unification groups held a counterprotest on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but a heavy police presence prevented them from reaching the funeral event.
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