Taiwan independence advocates protested in Taipei yesterday, accusing leading Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members of collaborating with China to destroy Taiwan from within.
Led by the Taiwan Republic Office group, protesters carried placards and shouted slogans outside the TVBS Media building in Neihu District (內湖), where the four candidates competing in the election for KMT chairperson were attending a televised policy debate yesterday afternoon.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) criticized top KMT officials for “hanging on to the myth” of the so-called “1992 consensus” and the “one China” concept.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
He compared the KMT to a large termite nest, with the four candidates for chairperson competing to become the “termite queen.”
“All top figures in the KMT hold pro-China views, pandering to the Beijing government’s interests. Their ... words and actions are designed to tear apart Taiwan’s social cohesion and subvert our national unity,” Chen said.
Taiwan Republic Office member Lai Fu-jung (賴富榮) said that KMT members are like termites because they are eating away at the national and cultural identities of Taiwanese, which has serious consequences for the armed forces and their duty to safeguard Taiwan’s national sovereignty.
The protesters shouted slogans as each of the four KMT candidates arrived, namely incumbent KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) and Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中).
Chang created a minor disturbance when he stopped to respond to the protesters, giving a thumbs-down sign. Police officers moved quickly to prevent a confrontation between the two groups.
The so-called “1992 consensus,” a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000, refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese government that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
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