20050829

Rally urges CCP members to resign

DENUNCIATION: Thousands marched in Taichung in support of China's democratization and human rights in an event whose organizers are linked to the Falun Gong

CNA , WITH STAFF WRITER

Nearly 10,000 people turned out for a rally in Taichung City yesterday supporting those "wishing to renounce their membership" in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ever since the Falun Gong-backed Epoch Times newspaper published a denunciation of the CCP called the Nine Commentaries on its Web site, the number of withdrawals from the party had accelerated and was expected to top 4 million soon, said Chen Chang-hui, a spokesman for the Global Alliance to Say Goodbye to the CCP, the organizer of yesterday's rally.

Hwang Kun-hu, president of the Taiwan chapter of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui group, third left, Lin Chia-lung, the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate for Taichung mayor, second left, and other participants hold up ``swords'' at a rally in Taichung yesterday in support of members of the Chinese Communist Party who want to renounce their party membership.

The group is a private organization based in Washington and was established by 91 smaller Chinese groups across the US last December.

Waving banners and shouting slogans, the marchers encouraged CCP members to give up their party membership and accelerate China's democratization.

Other participants were former Government Information Office minister Lin Chia-lung and Hwang Kun-hu, chairman of the pro-independence Friends of Lee Teng-hui group.

Lin and Hwang said that communism was no longer viable in today's world and that it was detrimental to human rights.

They added that it was a meaningful act for Chinese people to denounce communism and turn their back on the party.

Chen Rongli, a Chinese dissident and democracy activist who also appeared at the rally, announced that he canceled his membership of the Chinese Communist Youth League yesterday.

Chen Rongli said the CCP was continuing to jeopardize human rights and hinder the progress of democratization in China, neither of which was conducive to China's development.

He said he would also continue to encourage other Youth League members to leave the party.

The Wall Street Journal, in its Wednesday, Aug. 24 editorial entitled "Taiwan Fiddles," said that "Taiwan spends a small fortune lobbying Washington so the US will ride to its rescue in case of a Chinese attack. Yet more than four years after the US offered a package of advanced defense weapons, politicians in Taipei still haven't decided to buy them. This isn't helping Taiwan's cause in Washington .... If Taiwan wants the US to risk its blood and treasure in the event of an attack, paying for an adequate defense would seem to be a minimum prerequisite."

The Wall Street Journal is one of the most popular and influential newspaper in the US.

The editorial is sarcastic and condemning, which does not help Taiwan's survival and certainly damages the image of Taiwan in the US and throughout the world.

It portrays Taiwan as a nation whose leaders are selfish, irresponsible, and possess no pride.

The Taiwanese must understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch in the free world.

International support is important for Taiwan's survival in the current political situation, but the American public is now tired of going to war to fight for another country after seeing what is happening in Iraq.

The bad timing is also unfortunate, because Taiwan is now trying to get into the UN and needs all the public support it can get.

It is time the Taiwanese people wake up, shake up, stand up and tell Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou and his legislators in the Legislative Yuan to be responsible, stop playing politics, and vote to support the purchase of those defensive weapons that Taiwan needs.