The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is using Double Ten National Day to sow ideological division, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday, calling on people to boycott state ceremonies.
KMT legislators Lee De-wei (李德維) and Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆), as well as Lin Kuo-chun (林國春), who is seeking a legislative seat in New Taipei City, made the appeal at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Their remarks came two days after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would not attend Double Ten National Day ceremonies to protest Taipei’s decision to call them “Taiwan National Day” events in English-language statements.
Photo: CNA
The KMT urges patriotic civil servants and citizens who identify with the Republic of China (ROC) to refrain from taking part in this year’s Double Ten National Day ceremonies held by the Presidential Office, Lee told the news conference.
People should attend events organized by KMT-controlled local governments instead, he said.
The DPP’s move to rename the day was a “shell game to pursue Taiwanese independence,” he added.
The name of the nation is the ROC and should be translated as such in foreign languages, Lai said.
The DPP government’s rebranding efforts are tantamount to “conspiring to declare Taiwanese independence via an act of ... self-conception,” he said.
The DPP at a separate news conference said that the KMT’s attempt to cancel events is itself a divisive act that threatens to “tear apart the nation and its citizens.”
“The KMT caucus’ call is unwise and it is our advice to members of the KMT that they should try to enjoy the celebrations,” DPP secretary-general Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
There is no grounds for KMT complaints, as the ROC national flag would be prominently displayed throughout the Presidential Office-hosted event, Chuang said, adding that the opposition party’s argument is merely a rehash of the dead issue of Taiwan and China being separate countries.
“We are saddened at the remarks [from KMT colleagues], which cheapen the National Day celebrations by making them a tool to win elections,” DPP deputy secretary-general Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
A KMT utilizing ideological radicalization to preserve its electoral fortunes would not be a positive development for the national comity of the ROC, Hung said, adding that the opposition party should “turn back from the abyss.”
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