Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Party staged a rally in Taipei on Saturday to protest the authorities' recent "de-sinicizing" moves.

Former chairman of Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) Party, Ma Ying-jeou (with blue cap), former KMT acting chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (L1) and legislator John Hsiao-yen Chiang (R1) led a rally in Taipei to protest the authorities' recent "de-sinicizing" moves, on Saturday, March 31, 2007. [cn-rn.com]

Local media said about 20,000 people attended the rally, including Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of KMT, Wang Jin-pyng, leader of Taiwan's legislative body, and other senior party officials.

The Taiwan authorities, headed by Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have taken a number of "de-sinicizing" separatist measures.

Chen announced on Feb. 8 that the authorities will remove the words "China" or "Chinese" from the island's "government-run" organizations, enterprises and from certain laws and regulations.

The move, a denial of history, would cause conflict on the island, said KMT acting chairman Chiang Pin-kung at a press conference on Friday.

The DPP had contributed almost nothing in the past seven years, but threatened Taiwan's economic sustainability, cross-Strait peace as well as ethnic harmony for its own political gain, Chiangsaid.