New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) yesterday said the party will continue to advocate peaceful unification with China, adding that signing a peace treaty with China would be one of its campaign promises for the 2020 presidential and legislative elections.
Yok made the remarks at a ceremony in Taipei marking the 24th anniversary of the party’s establishment.
The party’s 99-year-old spiritual leader, former army general Hsu Li-nung (許歷農), Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁), Taipei City Council Speaker Wu Pi-chu (吳碧珠) and Chinese Union Promotion Party founder and Chairman Chang “White Wolf” An-le (張安樂) also attended the ceremony.
The party announced that it has officially split with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would position itself as a uniting force for all political groups advocating peaceful unification with China and opposing Taiwanese independence.
“The KMT said it will not unite with China, we say we want unification. This is one of the fundamental differences between the two parties,” Yok said.
“Suppose that the KMT keeps failing to have a concrete goal, then we would have to walk our own path, which is to march toward a peaceful unification with China and reinvigorate China as a strong nation. The KMT has apparently given up this mission. The New Party is willing to take over that responsibility,” he said.
Yok said the two parties differ on the issue of unifying with China.
“However, the KMT opposes Taiwanese independence, we can perhaps work with each other on this basis,” he said.
The party would host a pro-unification rally to combine all forces, Yok said.
Yok said signing a peace treaty with China would be among the party’s campaign promises in the 2020 elections.
“Signing a peace agreement with China would help Taiwan avoid a war and save the nation billions of dollars in purchasing defensive weapons. That money can be used toward social welfare and other expenditures,” he said, adding that such an agreement would also boost Taiwan’s economic development.
The party would propose amending the Regulations Governing the Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the People of the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), so that people across the Taiwan Strait would have closer exchanges in the economic realm and all aspects of life, he said.
The spirit of the Republic of China is long gone, Yok said, adding that the term “Republic of China” is now used by both KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party as a nominal term.
The New Party is the true bearer of the torch handed down by former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) and the party carries on with the same spirit Chiang did in the KMT, he said.
New Party Deputy Chairman Lee Sheng-feng (李勝峰) said the party’s goal of unifying with China and protecting the interests of Taiwan cannot be accomplished simply by doing whatever Beijing says.
Lee said the party would run in the elections next year and 2020.
“We will not skip the Taipei mayoral election next year and might participate in the New Taipei City mayoral election as well,” he said.
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