Hundreds of thousands of people yesterday rallied on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in support of Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) at his final large-scale campaign event in the capital before tomorrow’s presidential election.
Han, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, told the rally that since assuming power in 2016, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has deviated from its ideals and become corrupt.
The DPP has accused the KMT of interfering with judicial independence and cracking down on the freedom of the press, but since taking power, the DPP has done those things, proving that “it is a big bad wolf instead of a pure little rabbit,” Han said.
Photo: CNA
The DPP has bribed 90 percent of the nation’s media, interfered with judicial processes and used tax funds to launch online influence campaigns, he added.
“I do not believe that evil can conquer good and that people will continue to be fooled by the DPP,” Han said.
The DPP is leaving Taiwanese with no choice but to seek change, he said, urging people to support him and the KMT in the presidential and legislative elections.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
The event in front of the Presidential Office Building began at 5pm and attracted more than 300,000 people in about an hour, organizers said.
By 8:36pm, the turnout had exceeded 900,000 people, they said.
Many supporters wore red and blue, the colors of the Republic of China flag, while many also carried the national flag.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九); KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義); former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is head of Han’s campaign headquarters; former vice president Lien Chan (連戰); and former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) attended the event.
Fifteen KMT mayors and county commissioners, including New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), as well as many of the party’s legislative candidates, also attended.
Former premier Simon Chang (張善政), Han’s running mate, asked supporters if they had ever seen so many national flags before and how many they expected to see at President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) rally at the same location tonight.
“Zero,” he said, urging people to vote for Han, “the man who loves the national flag the most.”
“Protecting the national flag is protecting the nation,” Chang said.
Tomorrow is not just any election, but “a key battle that will determine the survival of the Republic of China,” Wu Den-yih said.
Voters would decide if the nation is to move toward prosperity or hardship, face cross-strait peace or standoff, he said.
If the KMT can win the presidential race and regain a legislative majority, it would “reverse the fate of the Republic of China” and help the nation “regain its glory,” he said, adding that the party hopes to secure at least 60 legislative seats.
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