TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said that he will not attend Taiwan’s upcoming national day celebrations because the English name “Republic of China (ROC) National Day” has been replaced with “Taiwan National Day.”
“When did the name of our country change from ‘the ROC’ to ‘Taiwan’?” Ma wrote in a Facebook post on Monday (Oct. 2). The name change was only applied to the English language communications for the event.
Ma said he has attended every national day celebration since leaving office, and the decision to not attend this year is a stance against Taiwan independence. The former Kuomintang (KMT) president said that the decision by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to change the name covertly normalizes Taiwan independence and endangers Taiwan’s people.
Ma added that changing the name of the national day celebrations goes against the constitution of the ROC. According to the constitution, national boundaries, which technically include all of mainland China and Taiwan, cannot be altered without a resolution of the National Assembly.
In practice, Taiwan’s government has not had control over territories outside Taiwan and its outlying islands since 1949. Since 1992 the government has used different legal frameworks for people from the “Taiwan Area,” and the “Mainland Area,” and in 1996 the constitution was amended to include articles regarding governance in the “free area of the ROC.”
Stands at Taiwan's 2022 national day celebrations show "Republic of China" written in Chinese above and "Taiwan" in English below. (YouTube, Presidential Office screenshot)
After attending the event for two years under Tsai’s administration, Ma’s decision this year may be timed to coincide with the run up to Taiwan’s general election. Ma called on voters to “remove this government that violates the constitution and ignores the people of Taiwan in the Presidential election next January.”
“Let us celebrate the National Day of the ‘Republic of China’ together in front of the Presidential Office next October,” Ma said.
