I really must respectfully disagree with Lev’s contention that the “Republic of China” flag flying side-by-side with the Taiwanese independence flag means there’s been some sort of unity movement.
Let’s not forget…the flag literally contains the KMT party emblem. So for a long time the DPP were super allergic to it. But then they realize for better or for worse that’s what the world recognize as the flag of Taiwan. So they co-opted it.
I don’t think they were wrong to do that, but it’s a little disingenuous to take a bit of political jujitsu and use it to paint a picture of unity between the old-school ROC faction and the pro-independence faction where I can assure you no such unity exists.
There’s also the subtle insinuation that anyone left who is still against the government’s agenda must be an agent of Beijing. Interestingly, there was an even LARGER anti-DPP protest on April 26 at the same spot as the April 16 pro-DPP protest. But like other pro-KMT/TPP protests, it was simply ignored in the international press.
At the April 26 protest, let me tell you, there were nothing but ROC flags: no Taiwanese independence, no Japanese, no American. The message is that far from being the party protecting democracy in Taiwan, the DPP is the party actively undermining democracy. They were called the Green Commies.
There’s your real pro-ROC faction.
