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.”
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
RSS