Saying that the main problem obstructing the UN referendum issue originated in China and not the US, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged everyone in Taiwan to focus on the right target.
"We are not taking aim at the US or US President George W. Bush. The enemy is China and the Chinese Communist Party," Chen said on a visit to Taichung yesterday.
"China is the dictator that does not want to talk about democracy and ignores the will of 23 million Taiwanese ... it is China that's stopping Taiwan from joining the UN," he said.
Democratization is what scares China the most, and democracy's most concrete expression is a referendum, Chen said, adding that, as a sovereign country, Taiwan had the right to join the UN.
The nation's 15th annual bid to join the world body will be put before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
In a videoconference with the Overseas Press Club of America in New York last night, Chen said that the US had been the first to change Taiwan's official title.
He said that when Taiwanese apply for a US visa with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), they list their nationality as "Republic of China" on the application form, but when they receive the visa their country of origin is given as "Taiwan."
"Why is it acceptable for the US to change our country's name, but when we ourselves want to change our country's name, it is considered wrong?" Chen asked.
DPP RALLY
Earlier yesterday, Chen urged people to take part in the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) rally to be held in Kaohsiung this afternoon in support of the party's UN referendum proposal on entering the UN under the name "Taiwan."
The rally today is scheduled to start at the intersection of Chungshan and Minsheng roads in Kaohsiung at 4pm and head north along Chungshan and Bo-ai roads to the intersection of Bo-ai and Shennung roads.
In addition to Chen, senior pan-green camp politicians including Vice President Annette Lu (
Chen is to deliver a speech at the rally that will be transmitted via a live video uplink to a similar event in front of the UN's New York headquarters.
The DPP has said it expected 500,000 people at the rally.
In response to the scale of the rally, the Kaohsiung Police Bureau plans to implement traffic controls in the afternoon and evening. No vehicles will be allowed south to Chungcheng Fourth Road, north to Wufu Third Road, west to Linsen First Road and east to Chunghua Third Road between 1pm and 7pm.
The youth department of Hsieh's office yesterday launched a campaign titled "Taiwan, My Country" and presented a campaign logo in the form of a burning phoenix, which the department said symbolized the transformation of Taiwan.
"Most young people in Taiwan now believe that Taiwan is a nation and that Taiwan's voice must be heard," the youth department's chief executive officer Chang Chia-ling (
Another logo, using a fire motif, was also unveiled, carrying the slogan "I love Taiwan love me" (我愛台灣愛我).
Chang said the logo symbolized that patriotism should become a fashionable idea in Taiwan.
At a separate setting yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus Secretary-General Kuo Su-chun (郭素春) accused the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York of mobilizing Taiwanese students in the US to participate in the rally at the UN headquarters.
The office even offered students between US$20 and US$75 as compensation, Kuo said.
In response, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
Huang said that promoting Taiwan's participation in the UN was a government policy and that the government held similar rallies or campaigns every year.
KMT RALLY
The KMT plans to hold its own rally this afternoon in Taichung to promote its proposed referendum on returning to the UN and other international organizations.
The rally will start at 4pm at 823 Park and march toward the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, where a party is to be held until 9pm.
The KMT has created 10 floats for the rally featuring different themes to highlight civic problems, such as credit card debt and the suicide rate.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by