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ROC 100: Tsai attends flag-raising
ceremony in Tainan
Staff Writer
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen, center, Tainan Mayor William Lai, third right, and
elected DPP representatives as well as supporters sing the Republic of China
national anthem at a flag-raising ceremony in Greater Tainan yesterday.
Photo Tsai Wen-chu, Taipei Times
Supporters of Democratic
Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen stand outside the Chenggong Railway
Station in Greater Taichung yesterday with posters featuring the dates and
locations of her presidential campaign tour.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Chairperson Tai Ing-wen (½²^¤å) yesterday attended a national flag-raising
ceremony in Greater Tainan to celebrate the Republic of China¡¦s (ROC)
centennial.
At the start of the ceremony, Tsai and Tainan Mayor William Lai (¿à²M¼w) joined
other early risers in the singing of the ROC national anthem, backed by recorded
music.
A number of legislators from both the pan-green and pan-blue camps attended the
event.
The DPP presidential candidate¡¦s presence at a national flag-raising ceremony
came two days after she unexpectedly declared at a campaign rally in Greater
Kaohsiung that ¡§Taiwan is the ROC, the ROC is Taiwan, the ROC government today
is the government of Taiwan.¡¨
The statement was interpreted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as a
departure from the DPP¡¦s previous stance that the ROC government was a
-government in exile.
Addressing the ceremony, Lai said it was usually a heartening moment to see the
ROC national flag at an international competition or conference.
¡§We tend to be touched and even moved to tears whenever we see our national flag
flying at international events,¡¨ Lai said, adding that he believed the national
flag-raising ceremony would help foster national unity.
Lai, a DPP stalwart, said he was pleased to see a national flag-raising ceremony
being held in Greater Tainan, a traditional DPP stronghold, with the attendance
of people of different political persuasions.
¡§We hope the event will help promote inclusiveness and national development in
the years ahead,¡¨ he said.
Tsai, who did not make a speech at the ceremony, told reporters afterwards the
ROC government could be accommodated and that she hoped the KMT would more
closely identify with Taiwan.
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