Taiwanese independence advocates yesterday marched as part of a “Taipei Spring” movement, demanding a referendum to abolish the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and to formally establish Taiwan as a country.
Movement spokeswoman Wang Yen-pin (王演彬) said that amid China’s continuing military threat, he and other constitutional advocates are initiating a campaign patterned after the Prague Spring of 1968 in then-Czechoslovakia.
It is a matter of urgency to tell the world that Taiwan and China are different countries, with separate governments and political systems, he said after the march outside the legislature.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
“Taiwan has much space to maneuver for international diplomacy and support from many countries, brought on by a new world economy and geopolitical landscape,” said Wang, a retired businessman and Nantou County native. “However, our government and legislators are still fearful and hesitant to undertake real political change.”
“It is up Taiwanese to start the 2022 Taipei Spring movement to push for the end of the ROC Constitution and its political system,” he said.
“The people of Taiwan and the Penghu islands are still under illegal occupation by the ROC regime of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT], but most of the public wants to safeguard our democracy and freedom, and to build a new Taiwan nation,” said.
Other leading independence advocates and Taipei Spring co-founders attending the event included former legislator Chou Ni-an (周倪安), who is secretary-general of the Taiwan Solidarity Union; Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵); and Rishen Wu (吳日昇), a deputy of the Taiwan Independence Revolutionary Army.
The movement pays tribute to Prague Spring and its leader Alexander Dubcek, who in 1968 began political liberalization and reform policies when Czechoslovakia was a satellite state of the communist Soviet Union, Wang said.
The Russian army and its tanks tried to crush the movement, but the people defied the Soviet occupation by mounting protests, work stoppages and civil disobedience, he said.
Chou said that the KMT’s education system and China-centric policies, left over from the days of military occupation and one-party rule, still exist throughout Taiwan, teaching students that Taiwan is part of the ROC.
These textbooks say that the ROC’s historical claims to Taiwan are based on the 1943 Cairo Declaration, reflecting “KMT brainwashing” attempts, she said.
“The Czech Republic initiated new ties to become friends with us, and the world is helping Taiwan to oppose a political and military takeover by China,” she said. “So Taiwanese must speak up and demand that the ROC framework be discarded.”
Chou said that the Taipei Spring movement could teach young people about Taiwan’s history, and lead campaigns to end the ROC system.
The Czech Republic is an example of a country that transitioned away from its authoritarian past into a new country, along with other eastern European countries that were controlled by communist regimes, she said.
Taiwanese have the right to self-determination and to decide on a new constitution and country name, she added.
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