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Several hundreds of thousands of people beat the pavement this Saturday, December 21 in Kaohsiung, the second metropolis of Taiwan. On the one hand, a procession supported the candidate of the Chinese nationalist party, vying for the elections of January 2020. On the other hand, his opponents demanded his resignation from his post as mayor.
With our correspondent in Taiwan, Adrien Simorre
The Chinese nationalist party wanted to make this day of December 21 a life-size test of the popularity of its candidate, Han Kuo-Yu . Buses had been chartered from several Taiwanese cities. Thousands of national flags were distributed to the participants.
Taiwan officially denominates the Republic of China. Its red and blue colors are therefore worn with pride by supporters of the Chinese nationalist party such as Di Yi, 60, from Kaoshiung: " The current president will never say in public that she loves the Republic of China, that she loves our national flag! She says. All she likes is Taiwan. I love my country, and my country is the Republic of China. "
Numerous opposition
A few kilometers away, another parade, more artisanal, but just as imposing, was organized by a citizen collective. Families and young people who have come to demand the resignation of candidate Han Kuo Yu from his seat as mayor of Kaoshiung. Eason, 23, came with his group of friends from college.
" I think the Chinese nationalist party wants to apply to Taiwan the principle of one country, two systems like in Hong Kong ," he said. But when we see what's going on in Hong Kong, we don't want that in Taiwan ! "
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At the end of the day, it was impossible to know which of the two parades had gathered the most participants. Three weeks before the Taiwanese presidential election, the Chinese nationalist party still wants to believe it. But the current president, sovereignist, far ahead of the polls.