Opposition politicians today criticized President William Lai (賴清德) for comparing the defense of democracy to forging a sword by hammering "impurities" out of the iron.
Lai gave a speech in Taoyuan last night. It was the second in a series of 10 centered on "unity" that he is scheduled to give across Taiwan.
In his speech, Lai called on people to "oppose the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)" and "safeguard Taiwan."
Photo: CNA
"Continuous elections and recall votes" are the way to channel public opinion, he said.
"Just like striking iron or forging a sword — you must keep hammering to drive out all the impurities, until all that's left is an iron will to defend our sovereignty and safeguard our democracy," he said.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), said unity should be about tolerance and moving forward hand in hand, rather than treating elected lawmakers as "impurities" that needed to be "hammered out."
Taiwan People's Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that Lai's words were "chilling."
Taiwanese are masters of the nation and should not be regarded as "impurities" by the president, he said.
Urging Lai to clarify and apologize, Huang said he hoped Lai misspoke and was not expressing his true sentiments.
Calling on politicians to refrain from over-interpreting Lai's words, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that Lai's speech was about forging an iron will to defend Taiwan and strengthening national unity.
The result of this refining process would be a united front made up of supporters of the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) who oppose the CCP, as well as those who identify as Taiwanese, Kuo said.
The Central Election Commission on Friday last week announced that recall motions targeting 24 KMT legislators and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) had passed its review.
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