Shouting "Long live Chiang Kai-shek [蔣介石]," thousands of protesters yesterday joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in a demonstration voicing recognition of Chiang's contributions to Taiwan and denouncing the government's anti-Chiang campaign.
Led by former KMT chairman and presidential hopeful Ma Ying-jeou (
Protesters, many of them wearing blue or red, carried portraits of Chiang and Sun Yat-sen (
"President Chiang was our leader, and he did a lot of things for this country. I won't allow the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] to eliminate his contributions," a veteran surnamed Chang (章), who declined to give his full name, said yesterday during the protest.
Many of the protesters were war veterans like Chang, and alumni from the Military Academy, a military school founded by Chiang, also turned out.
After the crowd returned to the Ketagalan Boulevard, video clips documenting life in the 1950s and 1960s and statues of Chiang being removed or damaged were shown on a big screen.
While only a few hundred protesters remained at the rally after the march, the atmosphere reached a climax when Ma appeared on the stage, urging the government and the public to recognize Chiang's contributions to the nation.
"We stand here to extend our support to Chiang as he made a great contribution in restoring, defending and developing Taiwan," Ma said to the rally.
Amid cheers of "Go, go Ma Ying-jeou," the KMT presidential hopeful acknowledged that Chiang should be held responsible for the 228 Incident, the White Terror era and the enforcement of martial laws, but also said that Chiang's contributions should not be overshadowed by his mistakes.
"He was not a saint, and the mistakes he made are known to history. Still, we can't deny his contributions," Ma said.
In response to DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun's remarks that the government should cancel the holidays commemorating Chiang's birth and death, Ma denounced the DPP for failing to focus its efforts on improving the people's livelihoods instead.
"A responsible government should do more than just try to revise conceptions about historic figures," he said.
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) joined Ma's criticism, urging the administration not to create ethnic clashes while ignoring what they said was the nation's declining competitiveness.
"If the anti-Chiang Kai-shek campaign could create harmonious ethnic relationships and help Taiwan to get more international recognition, then we wouldn't mind. But that's not the case," Wang said.
While criticizing the DPP for initiating the anti-Chiang campaign as an election strategy, the KMT also took advantage of the protest for campaigning purposes, as both Wang and Ma urged the protesters, who were primarily pan-blue supporters, to help the KMT to win the upcoming legislative and presidential elections.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS