The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is planning an event for July 5 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War — and whip up support for the party ahead of January’s presidential and legislative elections.
The event, cohosted by the party’s Huang Fu-hsing branch and its Culture and Communications Committee, is to stress the values of peace and the spirit of resistance, sources said, adding that it was clear from calls of maintaining KMT solidarity that the event is also intended to spur pan-blue supporters into action.
The Huang Fu-hsing branch is comprised of military veterans and their families, as well as “deep blue” supporters.
The list of invitees has not been finalized, but party sources speculate Deputy Legislative Speaker and presidential nominee Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and retired generals would be on the list.
The event, which is scheduled to run from 10am to 7pm at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, is going to be a more “entertaining and creative” commemorative event, including having people dress in military uniforms and clothing from the wartime period.
That the 23 million people of Taiwan share the same festivals as China, including Lunar New Year, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival, speak the same language and were saved from Japanese rule are all due to the Republic of China soldiers who fought in the war, the KMT said.
The party said it hopes that people who attend the event would reflect upon history and pay their respects to the soldiers who bravely resisted the Japanese invasion, as well as help unify different ethnic groups.
In election-related news, sources said the KMT is helping Hung set up a temporary campaign office and her aides could move in as early as today, but the campaign office is to have its own spokesman and media section to distinguish between the office and the KMT.
The KMT is to begin helping Hung’s campaign efforts on Monday, including providing some manpower, said Lee Shu-chuan (李四川), who is the director-general of Hung’s campaign office.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
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