Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun yesterday urged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
"He should give up pursuing unification with China ... He should give up the so-called `one China' framework. He should model his party on the Taiwan People's Party founded by Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) and change the KMT to the `Taiwanese Nationalist Party' to show he truly identifies with Taiwan," Yu told a press conference.
Commenting on Ma's plan to make "long-stay" visits to central and southern Taiwan, Yu said it showed that Ma was not familiar with Taiwan because "long stay" usually meant "staying in a strange place in other countries."
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"Judging from this, Ma does not regard Taiwan as his homeland. His [national] identity remains problematic," Yu said.
Yu appeared at the press conference along with four senior DPP officials wearing high school uniforms dating from the martial law period as part of the party's remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the end of martial law.
The DPP officials said wearing the school uniforms highlighted the absurdity of martial law rule.
Yu said the lifting of martial law in 1987 was not a benevolent move by former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
"Taiwanese democracy comes from the public's sacrifice and effort rather than from the former dictator's relaxation of his policies," Yu said.
"Chiang Ching-kuo announced the lifting of martial law because he faced pressure from the public," DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
He said this was why the party had labeled its activities to mark the end of martial law as "Pay Respect to the Taiwanese People."
Although it has been 20 years since martial law ended, Taiwan's democratization was not complete and it must continue to push for transitional justice, Yu said.
Martial law was imposed on May 19, 1949 and lifted on July 15, 1987.
The DPP said it would invite President Chen Shui-bian (
Meanwhile, senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members defended Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) yesterday for his contributions and condemned the DPP for "manipulating the ethnicity issue."
"Mr. Chiang did so many things for Taiwan. He promoted many native Taiwanese and placed great importance in public opinion," former Examination Yuan president Hsu Shui-teh (許水德) said during a forum at KMT headquarters to commemorate the anniversary.
"He [Chiang] made more contributions than those who have done nothing but talk about localization," Hsu said.
New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (
"Chiang led the country to open up more opportunities, but the DPP government has closed the doors and made the public suffer," Yok said.
Hsu said Chiang had considered lifting martial law in 1978 when he became president, and had formed a special committee to discuss the issue in 1986.
A KMT photo exhibition documenting the period when Chiang ended martial law is on view in Tainan through Sunday. The show moves to Taichung next week and then to Taoyuan County.
Also see story:
Editorial: Identification with Taiwan is key
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS