TAIPEI - Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party celebrated the 118th anniversary of its founding on Saturday by paying tribute to the party's late founding father.

Accompanied by the party's senior officials, KMT Chairman and Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou visited Dr. Sun Yat-sen's memorial hall in Taipei, laying a wreath at Sun's bronze statue.

Dr. Sun founded the Revive China Society, one of the predecessors of the KMT, in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 24, 1894. The society was later merged into the Tongmenghui and then became the KMT.

Ma also visited a Catholic facility which houses people with disabilities in Taipei. He hoped this would help increase social awareness in caring for disadvantaged groups.

Amid drizzle, KMT Honorary Chairman Wu Po-hsiung, who is on a visit to the Chinese mainland, on Saturday paid tribute to a resting place of 72 martyears who died in a uprising in April 1911, led by the Tongmenghui under the leadership of Dr. Sun.

Wu, after laying a wreath at the Huanghuagang Martyears' Cemetery in Guangzhou City, said the Huanghuagang Uprising, though it failed, woke up the nation, inspired later uprisings and the Revolution of 1911 which eventually overthrew the last imperial dynasty and led to the founding of the republic.

"To KMT, it is a history that we cherish and can not afford to forget," Wu said.

In Taiwan, the party's branches in 22 counties and cities held various charity events, including visits to disadvantaged people, blood donations and charity sales, in a bid to reach out to the public.

Tseng Yung-chuan, KMT vice chairman and secretary general, told a press briefing on Thursday that the party would celebrate the anniversary with the principle of thrift and service.