Nearly 10,000 people turned out for a rally in Taichung City yesterday supporting those "wishing to renounce their membership" in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ever since the Falun Gong-backed Epoch Times newspaper published a denunciation of the CCP called the Nine Commentaries on its Web site, the number of withdrawals from the party had accelerated and was expected to top 4 million soon, said Chen Chang-hui (陳昌輝), a spokesman for the Global Alliance to Say Goodbye to the CCP, the organizer of yesterday's rally.
It was not immediately clear how the alliance gathered that information.
PHOTO: CHU CHUN-YEN, TAIPEI TIMES
The group is a private organization based in Washington and was established by 91 smaller Chinese groups across the US last December.
Waving banners and shouting slogans, the marchers encouraged CCP members to give up their party membership and accelerate China's democratization.
Other participants were former Government Information Office minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and Hwang Kun-hu (
Lin and Hwang said that communism was no longer viable in today's world and that it was detrimental to human rights.
They added that it was a meaningful act for Chinese people to denounce communism and turn their back on the party.
Chen Rongli (陳榮利), a Chinese dissident and democracy activist who also appeared at the rally, announced that he canceled his membership of the Chinese Communist Youth League yesterday.
Chen Rongli said the CCP was continuing to jeopardize human rights and hinder the progress of democratization in China, neither of which was conducive to China's development.
He said he would also continue to encourage other Youth League members to leave the party.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS