Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) on Wednesday announced the KMT’s plan to establish a Hakka affairs committee within the party to help young Hakka people perpetuate their culture.
Hung made the announcement during a visit to a memorial park commemorating Hsu Hsiang (徐驤), one of the leaders of Hakka militias against Japanese attacks in 1895, in Miaoli County’s Toufen City (頭份).
“The current administration has never dwelled on the history of Taiwan’s resistance against Japanese aggression,” Hung said. “Instead, it has glamorized the Japanese colonization period … which is extremely regrettable and heart-wrenching.”
Hung said the KMT attached great significance to the development of the Hakka community’s infrastructure and cultural heritage, as well as improving the community’s quality of living.
The KMT is planning to officially establish a Hakka Affairs Committee on Aug. 1, Hung said, adding that the party wants to forge greater consensus among Hakka people and help young Hakka people pass down their culture.
Hung added that the committee’s five primary missions include reinvigorating Hakka language, culture, industry and cultivation of talent, as well as promoting Hakka exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
The committee is reportedly to be headed by former minister of the Council of Hakka Affairs Liu Ching-chung (劉慶中).
Hung said Taiwan should place more emphasis on the spirit of its Hakka forebears in safeguarding the nation’s territory and the inheritance of Hakka culture.
“We plan to join hands with all KMT-governed cities and counties in advancing Hakka culture, quality of living and the environment, as well as innovating the Hakka cultural industry,” Hung said.
Citing Miaoli County as an example, Hung said that out of the county’s population of about 560,000 people, about 65 percent, or 360,000 people, are Hakka, which showcases Miaoli as a diverse and tolerant administrative region.
Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌), who accompanied Hung on her visit to the memorial park, called for solidarity within the KMT at a time when the party is faced with great hardship.
“In recent days, Taiwan has seen a seemingly endless string of disasters, such as Typhoon Nepartak that wreaked havoc on Taitung County earlier this month and the fatal crash of a bus carrying Chinese tourists on Tuesday,” Hsu said.
While urging the public to pray for Taiwan, Hsu also said that Hung is an ambitious politician and he believed the KMT would be able to unite behind her to create new opportunities for the party.
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