Taichung mayor touches on ROC-Taiwan issue at flag ceremony
2011/10/10 16:41:41
Taichung, Oct. 10 (CNA) Taichung Mayor Jason Hu described the Republic of China as a father and Taiwan as a mother to the country's people at a flag-raising ceremony in the city on Monday's National Day.
"I am the Republic of China, my wife is Taiwan. Let the ROC and Taiwan be forever loving and move forward together," said Hu as he held hands with his wife in front of a crowd of 3,000 attending the ceremony.
Hu touched on the relationship between Taiwan and the country's official name, the Republic of China, a day after opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen drew attention to the issue by saying, "Taiwan is the Republic of China."
Tsai and the DPP had previously described the Republic of China government as a government in exile and questioned its legitimacy, and her statement Saturday was criticized by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) as a reversal of her previous stance.
Hu on Monday called the Republic of China and Taiwan inextricably linked -- the father and mother of the people -- and said it was not right to ask people to take sides.
The Republic of China was formed on Jan. 1, 1912 in the Chinese mainland after the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. It then came to be the official name of Taiwan and its outlying islands after the KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949 following its defeat at the hands of the communists in the Chinese Civil War.
Meanwhile, among the flag-raising ceremonies held around the country to celebrate the country's National Day, the one held at the highest altitude was in Yushan National Park.
Eleven people, including six backpackers, attended the event in a light drizzle at an altitude well over 3,000 meters.
In Chiayi, a group of 100 cyclists celebrated National Day in a different way. They arrived in the southern city early Monday morning after a 48-hour around-the-island relay that covered 1,118 kilometers and 10 stops.
The relay took the cyclists around Taiwan in a clockwise direction, beginning from Taichung, and then stopping in Hsinchu, Taipei, Hualien, Taitung, and Kaohsiung before reaching Chiayi at 7:30 a.m. Monday. (By Chiang Chun-liang, Chen Shun-hsieh, Hao Hsueh-ching and Ann Chen) enditem/ls
Source: Focus Taiwan
|