The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday announced plans to hold a Republic of China (ROC)-themed event for next week’s Double Ten National Day to rekindle ROC patriotism.
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei, former minister of national defense Wu Shih-wen (伍世文) said the event, titled “Love Your National Flag, Love Your Country,” was organized for the third time this year is because he felt there are some people “who do not cherish the ROC flag.”
“Many people, both at home and overseas, attended our event last year,” Wu said. “Through this event, we are hoping to change the minds of people who do not have much feeling toward the ROC flag and show them that there is no need to shun it.”
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
The event is scheduled for 2pm on Wednesday next week at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, where an estimated 20,000 people are expected to sing the national anthem and pay tribute to ROC founder Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), the KMT said.
Acting KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director-General Tang Te-ming (唐德明) said that since taking office in May 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has demonstrated a reluctance to refer to Taiwan by its official title and often calls it “this nation” instead.
“That explains why the ROC flag was nowhere to be found on the Tsai administration’s invitations for last year’s celebrations,” Tang said. “People had no idea which country’s national day we were celebrating.”
Tang said that although the Tsai administration has toned down what he called its “de-ROC-ization” efforts this year, possibly due to pressure from members of the private sector who have thrown their support behind the ROC flag, the size of the flag printed on items for this year’s celebrations is still “unbelievably small.”
“Is the Tsai administration that ashamed of the ROC?” he asked, urging members of the public who love the ROC and its flag to join the KMT for its national celebrations.
The KMT last year pointed to the lack of the ROC title and flag in the invitations as proof that the Democratic Progressive Party was continuing its efforts to eradicate the ROC — which some in the pan-green camp consider to be a government-in-exile — and to pursue independence.
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