Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday announced she would attend China’s military parade in Beijing today, prompting condemnation from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which said her attendance would harm the nation’s dignity.
Hung, who arrived in Beijing on Monday, said her attendance at the parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Second Sino-Japanese War was an effort to “carry forward the spirit of resistance.”
“The War of Resistance Against Japan was a battle for the very survival of the Chinese nation, a war of life and death,” Hung said in a statement, adding that history must not be forgotten or distorted.
Photo: Screen grab from Hung’s Facebook page
She said that without the cooperation between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), along with the united resistance of the “entire nation,” the Republic of China could not have survived.
She said that as a former KMT leader she felt a responsibility to uphold that legacy.
The DPP said that Hung was parroting the CCP’s line about the end of WWII and that the KMT’s silence was a betrayal of history that harmed the nation’s dignity.
DPP spokeswoman Tai Wei-shan (戴瑋姍) said that Hung once criticized former vice president and KMT chair Lien Chan (連戰) for attending the same parade in 2015.
KMT Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) said Hung was visiting China in a personal capacity and that she cannot represent the party.
Former KMT secretary-general Lee Chien-lung (李乾龍) on Monday said he had declined an invitation due to health reasons following surgery.
Sources said that New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬), former New Party legislator Chou chuan (周荃), former People First Party legislator Tsao Yuan-jhang (曹原彰) and National Taiwan University philosophy professor Yuan Chu-cheng (苑舉正) were expected to attend the parade.
The Mainland Affairs Council urged Taiwanese to refrain from attending the military parade or any other events organized by the Chinese government, which could harm the nation’s dignity.
Political parties, groups and people who collaborate with CCP officials by signing agreements, memorandums of understanding or other documents, making joint declarations, or participating in publicity events would be prosecuted under the full extent of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), it said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) yesterday said the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is distorting the historical facts of WWII and falsely stating that Taiwan belongs to the PRC.
“The PRC has never ruled Taiwan,” he said, adding that Taiwan has gone through political democratization and liberalization since the 1980s, holding its first direct presidential election in 1996, allowing Taiwanese to elect their own government and lawmakers, and becoming the only legal government that rules Taiwan.
“It is an objective fact that the two sides are not subordinate to each other, and the PRC does not have the right to represent Taiwan in international society,” he added.
The PRC has in the past few years resorted to every conceivable means to suppress Taiwan in the international arena, and it continues to harass the nation by frequently sending military planes and vessels into waters and airspace around Taiwan, he said.
All Taiwanese who support and defend Taiwan should avoid sending the wrong signal to international society, which could cause people to misunderstand Taiwan’s democracy and sovereignty, Hsiao said.
“If any Taiwanese attend the Chinese event [military parade], they are not only going against local mainstream public opinion, but are also unable to represent the stance of all the people of Taiwan,” he added.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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