Kuomintang leads own pro-U.N. bicycle tour across island

Ma and about 500 senior KMT members and supporters, carrying national flags and wearing colorful helmets, started out at 7 a.m. at the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall on the west side of the city, heading east along Hsinyi Rd. before rush-hour traffic built up.

The greeted and waved to commuters and students in a ride that took Ma only 20 minutes to reach the destination — the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on the other side of town.

There were not too many eye-catching signs that the KMT stalwarts and supporters were carrying along to indicate that they were promoting the opposition party’s campaign for the country’s return to the United Nations.

Ma admitted that the “Return to U.N.” campaign was only playing a minor role in the current socio-political agenda, and that people’s livelihood should be given top priority.

Observers pointed out that the opposition camp was staging the bike tour more for the media than for the ordinary people.

The KMT would not want the DPP’s torch relay taking place at the same time to dominate the media, the observers said.

Some paraders were wearing helmets in the shape of pigs, dogs and chickens, and others were dressed like homeless people — to ridicule the government over their incapability to address economic issues.

One of the targets of their ridicule was obviously DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh, who has stressed that joining the United Nations is a bigger issue for Taiwan than economic ones.

The DPP administration has been campaigning to have the country use the name “Taiwan” to apply for U.N. member.

The KMT, in a much more low-key campaign, is instead seeking to have the country “re-apply” for admission to the U.N. as the “Republic of China.”

The KMT parade was originally scheduled to start on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office.

But the opposition party agreed to move to the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall, avoiding a possible conflict with the DPP torch relay that President Chen Shui-bian kicked off yesterday in front of the Presidential Office.

Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin, a KMT stalwart, showed up at the memorial hall at 6:50 a.m. to inspect preparations for the bike tour, but he left soon before Ma arrived.

On the outlying island county of Penghu, the KMT also organized a parade of 600 bicyclists to promote the party’s U.N. bid.

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