Ignoring the summer heat of southern Taiwan, thousands of people yesterday took part in a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)- organized rally in Kaohsiung to demand the ouster of President Chen Shui-bian (
The KMT's rally yesterday was the second of the party's three protests around the nation which aim to gather public support for the recall motion before the legislature votes on it on Tuesday.
Denouncing Chen for failing to improve the country's economy and cross-strait relations over the past six years, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, AP
"The recall motion is not a political clash between the pan-blue and pan-green camp, and it is not an opposition scheme aimed at grabbing power. It's for the future of all the people," Ma said during the rally held at the National Science and Technology Museum.
Outside the rally, pan-green supporters shouting "Get lost, Ma Ying-jeou" burned KMT party flags. At one point, some even tried to occupy the satellite vans of media outlets they accused of being pro-China.
The protesters were stopped by the police.
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN, TAIPEI TIMES
Ma said the biggest issue for the president was that the people around him loved money, and had "abused their power after they got it."
"If my secretary and my wife became rich through graft, playing the stock market or gambling, would you still want me to be Taipei mayor?" asked Ma, who also serves as Taipei mayor.
Speaking in both Mandarin and Taiwanese, Ma asked the crowd "have our lives gotten better?"
"No," the crowd responded, waving flags and placards while cheering Ma's speech.
"Only by ousting President Chen will Taiwan have a future," Ma said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Tight security
To ensure the KMT chairman's safety amid alleged assassination threats aired on pirate radio stations in the south, Kaohsiung police assigned more than 2,000 officers to secure the site of the rally, with about 100 police following Ma around to protect him.
In Taipei yesterday, the People First Party (PFP) gathered more than 80 cars to protest against Chen around CKS Memorial Hall, expressing their anger by honking their horns.
PFP Chairman James Soong (
"President Chen should step down immediately because it's impossible that he can finish his term without further corruption ? If the DPP still has a conscience, it should join our plea and ask Chen to step down," Soong said.
Ma paid a brief visit to Soong before heading to Kaohsiung.
Expressing his determination to continue his sit-in, rather than attending the KMT rally, Soong urged the KMT chairman to play a more active role in fighting against a corrupt government.
"If Taiwan continues to sink into depravity, there will be no future for democracy, and the opposition can stop thinking about the 2008 presidential election," he said.
Taipei scuffles
In related developments, dozens of pro-independence activists demonstrating outside the KMT's headquarters in Taipei scuffled with the party's supporters before they were separated by police.
The demostrators accused the KMT of illegally amassing a fortune through cozy business links while in power and demanded that it return its stolen assets to the people.
Following another rally to be held today in Taipei, the KMT will invite more than 5,000 supporters to gather outside the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday to display their support for Chen's ouster.
DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang (
Additional reporting by AFP
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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