Independence groups try to burn defaced ROC flag

POLITICAL PERSECUTION:：The protest leader said the rally was held in Jieshou Park because he was arrested there for burning an ROC flag in 2013 and given jail time

By Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

Tue, Mar 03, 2015 - Page 4

Pro-independence groups yesterday attempted to burn a defaced version of the Republic of China (ROC) flag at a monument nearby the Presidential Office Building, saying the flag was illegitimate.

Led by the Taiwanese National Party (TNP, 台灣民族黨), the protesters said the flag did not represent the citizens of Taiwan, because it displays the emblem of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which they said was a foreign colonial regime which occupied Taiwan by force in the 1940s.

The demonstration activities were led by TNP Chairman Tsua Gim-liong (蔡金龍), and took place at the “Monument to Commemorate Political Persecution Victims during the White Terror era,” which is in Jieshou Park near the Presidential Office Building.

“We do not recognize this KMT ensign flag, and it does not represent Taiwan or its citizens. The ROC is a fraudulent concept fabricated by the KMT. The ROC government with its ROC flag is a criminal hoax imposed on Taiwan by the late dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石),” Tsua said.

“Our party urges Taiwanese to reject this so-called ROC flag because it has no legal status, and also to repudiate the illegal KMT regime. The best way is for people to rise up and overthrow the government, because the ROC is not a country, and it is not recognized by the international community,” he said.

Tsua said the protest venue was chosen because he came under political persecution for his public burning of the ROC flag on Oct. 15, 2013, for which he was charged under Article 160 of the Criminal Code.

He was found guilty and given a 40-day prison sentence.

Joining the TNP organizers at the protest were activists and members from the Organization for Taiwan National Declaration, Happy National Connections in Taiwan, and the Nation-Building Forum.

When several participants tried to burn a defaced ROC flag with lighters, several rounds of confrontation ensued as the police closed in to restrain the protesters’ actions, but no arrests were made despite some pushing and scuffling.

Tsua told police officers that the flag was painted with a skull-and-bones on the KMT emblem, and used a paler shade of red than the standard color, and therefore it was not a real ROC flag, and so they were not breaking the law by burning it.

The TNP chairman also declared that since he does not recognize ROC law and the judicial system is controlled by the KMT, he will exercise the “right of resistance” and will not serve his 40-day detention.