The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday that the party will mobilize 200,000 people to take part in a "1 million hand-in-hand" campaign scheduled for Feb. 28.
TSU Chairman Huang Chu-wen (
Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Huang said the campaign, the "peace referendum" and defense of "the local regime" on election day, March 20, were the three major goals of the TSU this year.
The TSU regards Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), both born in China, as "aliens."
Huang said his party would mobilize 200,000 people for the "1 million hand-in-hand" campaign and that in the toughest area for TSU supporters -- Miaoli County -- the party is aiming to attract 10,000 people.
Huang also cited the examples of three Baltic nations, saying that the total population of the three countries was only a little more than 8 million, but in 1989, facing the threat from the Soviet Union, the countries mobilized a total of 2 million people to form a giant human chain. Lithuania held a referendum in February the following year and declared independence in March.
According to Huang, this showed the importance of the "1 million hand-in-hand" campaign as the first step. The subsequent peace referendum and the defense of "the local regime" were also crucial, he said.
He claimed that only by defending the "local regime" could Taiwan cement its democratic achievements, uphold its reforms and stabilize the political situation.
TSU secretary-general Lin Chi-chia (林志嘉) said that all participants in the campaign would turn east toward the Central Mountain Range at 2:28pm and shout "Taiwan yes, China no."
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