Fri, Jan 03, 2020 page3

• Kinmen street’s PRC flags lowered on fear of new law

  • By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
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  A potter in Kinmen County yesterday said that he and a borough official removed People’s Republic of China (PRC) flags from a street where they have hung them for fear of contravening the Anti-infiltration Act (反滲透法).

  Wang Ming-tsung (王明宗), who works in Jincheng Township (金城), said that Republic of China (ROC) and PRC flags have flown along Mofan Street since 2018, but passage of the act on Tuesday prompted the immediate removal of the Chinese flags.

  Wang said that since 2003, he has been flying the PRC flag over his store, which popularized the sight of it in Kinmen.

  

  Republic of China flags yesterday hang along Mofan Street in Kinmen’s Jincheng Township.

  Photo: CNA

  In 2018, he and Dongmen Borough (東門) Warden Tsai Hsiang-kun (蔡祥坤) began lining the streets with both flags, Wang said.

  “The idea was to create a ho spot to promote tourism,” Wang said.

  They helped boost local tourism, which benefited the community, he said.

  Flying PRC flags on either side of Mofan Street emphasized the difference between democracy and autocracy, Wang said.

  The PRC flags were removed in October last year in observance of Double Ten National Day, but were restored in November, he said.

  However, passage of the act — which aims to prevent meddling by external hostile forces, and ensure national security and social stability — might make flying the Chinese flag a problem, he said.

  Many Taiwanese visitors were amazed at the PRC flags and said they would not be seen on Taiwan proper, he said.

  “Like Taiwanese who are excited to see their national flag abroad, Chinese tourists also feel more welcome when they see their flag in Taiwan,” Wang said.

  Kinmen’s tourism industry has suffered from a decline in Chinese visitors that began last year, he said.

  Tsai said that the political atmosphere has changed, but they still have to abide by the law, apparently a reference to the act passed by the legislature on Tuesday.

  Kinmen, a few kilometers off the Chinese coast, is a traditional stronghold of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and County Commissioner Yang Cheng-wu (楊鎮浯) is a member of the party.

  They would wait to see the results from the elections on Saturday next week before deciding whether to restart the flag tradition, Tsai said.

  A Mofan Street store owner surnamed Hsu (許) said that it did not matter what flag was flying over her business, as long as she made money.

  A visitor from Taiwan proper had accused her of being a sellout because she was flying the PRC flag, Hsu said.

  It is “ridiculous that one could be accused of being a sellout because of a flag,” she said.

  A clothing designer surnamed Hsu (許) said it was “out of place” to see PRC flags in Taiwan.

  People should not treat the liberties that come with democracy so casually, the designer said, adding that if people truly sought to espouse the spirit of democracy, they should fly the ROC flag in China.
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