Yasukuni Shrine Visit
The visit to the Yasukuni Shrine by TSU chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) in April 2005 generated a controversy across the political spectrum and further made their party goals more ambiguous to the voters. However, the TSU has made it clear that it would achieve its goal of total independence by all means. Chairman Shu denied the visit should be seen as support for militarism, and claimed it was a goodwill gesture to Taiwan's former colonial master Japan to further strengthen the security of the Pacific region. Chairman Su also emphasized that there is a need to remind the Taiwanese public that the People's Republic of China is aiming 700 missiles towards Taiwan and that Japan would be an important ally if China were inclined to invade.
Chairman Shu's visit, however, gave opportunity to aboriginal legislator Kao Chin Su-mei (高金素梅) to gain publicity by protesting with her supporters at the chairman's arrival at the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport, now renamed Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Later on the TSU press conference was disrupted by an angry mob from the members of pro-unification Patriot Association (愛國同心會), who showed their disagreement and dissatisfaction by throwing eggs at the conference building. The Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party, kept a low profile in this controversy and attempts to distance itself from the incident.
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Famous quotes containing the words shrine and/or visit:
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