Epoch Times
Date: April 8, 2019
By: Frank Fang, Epoch Times

Protesters raise a banner with the words “No to ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and Built a New Taiwan Country” in a parade that took place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on April 7, 2019. (NTD)

TAIPEI, Taiwan—About 3,000 people took to the streets of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan on April 7, in protest of Beijing’s proposal to rule the island under the “one country, two systems” model.

The model is currently used in Hong Kong, since the city’s sovereignty was handed over from Britain to China in 1997, which was intended to preserve its autonomy and freedoms while under mainland Chinese rule. However, the city has seen the encroaching influence of Beijing impact local politics, education, and freedom of the press in recent years.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has repeatedly suggested this model as a way to bring Taiwan under the reign of Beijing, including most recently in a January 2018 speech before Chinese Communist Party members.

Relations between Taiwan and China are fraught, as the Chinese regime considers Taiwan a renegade province under its sovereignty, despite the fact that the latter is a de facto independent country with its own elected officials, constitution, military, and currency.    [FULL  STORY]