《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Parties line up supporters with Line messaging app

NO STICKERS: Some netizens said a KMT comment that it can only offer cartoon pictures, but not Line stickers because it lacked funds, was the year’s funniest joke

By Alison Hsiao / Staff reporter

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The Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） and the Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） yesterday launched official accounts for the popular free messaging service Line to promote closer and instant communication with their supporters.

Following the DPP’s launch early yesterday morning, advertised on Facebook, the KMT held a press conference yesterday to introduce its Line account, which it described as its “mobile party headquarters.”

A group of young people performed a skit on how the tech-savvy younger generation can receive the latest information on the KMT’s activities via the mobile messaging platform.

Saying that there are now upward of 17 million Line users in the nation, KMT Secretary-General Tseng Yung-chuan （曾永權） said that during election campaigns, KMT candidates would be using the application to engage with the public.

“The candidates will organize various creative activities to have online interaction with their friends through more interesting and diverse ways,” Tseng said.

“We believe that with the smartphone social network service we have a communication platform to better listen to the voice of the young generation,” Tseng added.

The KMT also provided 10 cartoon pictures featuring Republic of China founding father Sun Yat-sen （孫逸仙） as gifts for those who add the party to their friends list.

The pictures have to be downloaded one-by-one rather than as a set, as they are not Line stickers, it said.

KMT spokesperson Charles Chen （陳以信） said that turning the pictures into Line stickers would require extra money and the party could not afford the expenditure.

The remark was met with ridicule by netizens, with some calling it the year’s funniest joke.

Meanwhile, the DPP said it is also planning to release downloadable pictures, including a cartoon version of DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文）, antinuclear campaign stickers and an image of a Formosan black bear.

The party said it cannot release sticker versions because Line does not yet allow political parties to provide sticker sets.

Both parties offered gifts to those who act fast.

The DPP is offering the first 100 participants a chance to win antinuclear towels and piggy banks, while the KMT is holding a lottery, with Giant bicycles, portable chargers and movie tickets as prizes.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES