Tsai & Ko Embrace 8/23 Artillery Victory as Electoral Strategy
2019/08/23
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Tsai & Ko Embrace 8/23 Artillery Victory as Electoral Strategy
Source: China Times
August 23, 2019
As the presidential election is approaching, both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who constitutes Taiwan’s third force, tried to embrace the Nationalist Government’s notable victory in the massive artillery duel of Kinmen, an islet off southeast China, in 1958, a.k.a. the August 23 Artillery Duel (named after the launch date of the war). The victory in this conflict has also been considered the KMT’s totem. Unlike her being absent from presiding over the 60th anniversary of the Artillery Duel commemoration last year, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) arrived in Kinmen today for the annual commemoration with a high media profile.
Meanwhile, Taipei Mayor Ko invited Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and former legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to attend a concert marking the August 23 Artillery Duel sponsored by City Hall. The KMT will organize a flag raising ceremony in every city and county on the upcoming Armed Forces Day on September 3rd in homage to the nation’s military and civil defense system.
The August 23 Artillery Duel is the most important battle waged in the Taiwan Strait since the Battle of Kuningtou of October in 1949. Its victory ensures the safety of Taiwan and its islets and prevented an invasion by the Communist forces. Even though the August 23 Artillery Duel is one of the KMT’s most important totems, all Presidents, including Chen Shui-bian, would either preside over the annual commemoration in Kinmen marking the victory in the capacity as commander-in-chief of the nation’s three armed services or ask their vice presidents to do so on every August 23rd.
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