Pan-green camp politicians chided the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the New Party for sending representatives to an event in China to venerate the mythical “Yellow Emperor” (黃帝, Huangdi), whom Chinese folklore claims to be the progenitor of Han people.
Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee Vice Chairman Xiao Jie (肖捷) presided over the event at a site believed to be the emperor’s grave in Shaanxi Province’s Huangling County.
It was also attended by Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Deputy Chairman Zhu Yongxin (朱永新), while the KMT was represented by its former secretary-general, Lin Join-sane (林中森), and the New Party by its founder, Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明).
Photo: CNA
It was covered by China Central Television and Fujian Straits TV, as well as Taiwan’s CTiTV.
Reading an official statement, Shaanxi Governor Zhao Gang (趙剛) told the event: “We are here with the peoples of China and from across the Taiwan Strait together as one family, and the inevitable trend of history will see China united as one nation and reject [Taiwanese] independence. It is the will of the Chinese people to have ‘one country, two systems’ for prosperity and stability, as Hong Kong and Macau are thriving on the sunshine path after returning to the motherland.”
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Mei-hui (王美惠) said the event was part of China’s “united front” strategy.
“Only few Taiwanese want to be ruled by China,” she said. “Taiwan and China are two different countries, but China aims to mislead the world.”
“It is unfortunate that Taiwan has these KMT and New Party figures who collude with China,” she added.
Wang said that the KMT and New Party’s participation in the event was in the same vein as former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) visit to China, during which he claimed that Taiwanese and Chinese “are all Han Chinese people.”
“Taiwanese enjoy freedom and democracy, and we have economic prosperity and political stability. So why should we accept being ruled by the Chinese government?” she said.
If the KMT figures who attended the event “love China so much, then they should move there,” Wang said.
DPP Legislator Lai Jui-lung (賴瑞隆) said that while history books issued by Beijing describe the Yellow Emperor as the progenitor of Han people, he is in truth “just an ancient myth.”
The event was part of China’s “political games,” Lai added.
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