《TAIPEI TIMES》 DPP legislators mulling party logo rule update

STATE AND PARTY: To prevent confusion, the draft amendment to the Political Parties Act would stipulate that the logos may not be too similar to national symbols

By Chen Yun, Shih Hsiao-kuang and William Hetherington / Staff reporters, with staff writer

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Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） legislators Chen Ming-wen （陳明文） and Wang Mei-hui （王美惠） yesterday said they are planning to propose an amendment that would prohibit the use of party emblems with a high degree of similarity to national symbols.

The national emblem — which was adopted in 1947 and depicts a white sun in a blue sky — was derived from the Chinese Nationalist Party’s （KMT） emblem.

The continued use of the symbol by the KMT causes confusion about the separation of party and state, and conflicts with modern ideas that emerged during 30 years of democratic development in the nation, the legislators said.

In the KMT emblem, the sun is larger and its 12 rays touch the outer edge of the blue circle that encompasses them, but it is otherwise identical to the national emblem, they said.

“Once the amendment is passed, it will be applicable to all parties. I urge the KMT to see things not just from its own perspective. Everything it does as a political party should put the nation first,” Chen said.

“In the past, there was no distinction between the KMT and the state, but times have changed — Taiwan is no longer a one-party state,” Wang said. “This amendment is straightforward and well-intentioned. We are only aiming to avoid confusion between party and state symbols, and the KMT does not need to be so sensitive about it.”

Chen and Wang proposed amending Article 14 of the Political Parties Act （政黨法）, which stipulates the rules for symbols of political parties, adding the clause that the emblems cannot be too similar to that of the nation.

The legislators said they would raise the issue in the legislature next week.

In response, the KMT yesterday accused the DPP of using its administrative majority to attack opposition parties.

“They are not just after our assets, now they want our emblem too,” the KMT said.

The symbols are similar, because the KMT established the state, it said, adding that the party’s emblem is symbolic of its reverence for the revolutionary martyrs of its past.

“The KMT established the state, and the national emblem was modeled after that of the KMT. The DPP should not have history backward,” the KMT said. “The DPP is doing a terrible job managing the nation’s internal affairs, so it is engaging in ideological warfare.”

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES