The Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan yesterday condemned pro-unification advocates for destroying their tents outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei and vowed to continue promoting transitional justice by removing symbols of authoritarianism.
At about 5pm on Tuesday, a group of men arrived at tents set up by the alliance on Jinan Road and began damaging the desks and cabinets and spraying red paint over their banners.
The incident was streamed live on the Facebook page of the pro-unification group Blue Power.
One of the perpetrators was seen wearing a hoodie with “KMT” printed on the front.
Police arrested four men at the scene for contravening the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Chen Mao-chia (陳茂嘉), secretary-general of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth Work Committee, later claimed responsibility for the vandalism, saying that he hoped it would make members of the alliance rethink their attempts at vandalizing the sarcophagus of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) in Taoyuan’s Dasi District (大溪) on Feb. 28.
Alliance convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), who is also chairman of the Free Taiwan Party, yesterday said that the alliance would not press charges against the perpetrators, because it refuses to hide behind the judicial system of the “exiled” Republic of China (ROC) government.
The alliance, founded in 2008, has described its mission as overthrowing “the ROC government in exile” and building an independent nation with its own constitution.
Tsay also defended members of the alliance who tossed red paint on Chiang’s sarcophagus last month, insisting that they were promoting transitional justice.
“We will continue to remove all symbols of authoritarianism through nonviolent, grassroots activism,” Tsay said.
He called on members of the public to donate or lend money to the independence advocates who have been charged with vandalizing Chiang’s sarcophagus, saying that they need to post bail and might face trial in the future.
Additional reporting by Cheng Hung-ta
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