KMT accuses government over National Day phraseTAIWAN EVENTS: The DPP said that attempts to cancel Double Ten National Day celebrations were divisive and threatened to ‘tear apart the nation and its citizens’By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAThe Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government is using Double Ten National Day to sow ideological division, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers said yesterday, calling on people to boycott state ceremonies. Their remarks came two days after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would not attend Double Ten National Day ceremonies to protest Taipei’s decision to call them “Taiwan National Day” events in English-language statements. An ice sculpture celebrating Double Ten National Day is pictured on Tuesday at festivities hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Photo: CNAThe KMT urges patriotic civil servants and citizens who identify with the Republic of China (ROC) to refrain from taking part in this year’s Double Ten National Day ceremonies held by the Presidential Office, Lee told the news conference. “We are saddened at the remarks [from KMT colleagues], which cheapen the National Day celebrations by making them a tool to win elections,” DPP deputy secretary-general Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said.
