The street protests by half a million Hong Kong residents against Article 23 of the Basic Law have led to a new interpretation of the "one country, two systems" concept, where the "one country" stands for China and the "two systems" stand for "dictatorship" and "oppression," or, in other words, the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party of China in opposition to democracy and the oppression of the people, depriving them of their freedom and human rights.
China's "one country, two systems" is already in ruins after only six years in Hong Kong. The people of Taiwan have always opposed the concept, now more than ever.
Taiwan faces China's military threats, diplomatic isolation, economic seduction, and political and cultural infiltration. To achieve an enduring system, peace and sustainable development, we must work from within Taiwan to form a modern society based on democracy and freedom.
In 2000, Taiwan adopted peaceful and democratic means to complete the first transfer of power in its history.
Not only was this an unprecedented achievement, but it was also the first step towards the normalization of democratic politics. In order to deepen and further consolidate the nation's democracy, it is necessary to carry out referendums to make up for the shortcomings of the representative politics of Taiwan's indirect democracy, by -- whenever appropriate -- using the direct democracy of referendums to show the common will of the people regarding important livelihood and other public policies, constitutional amendments, or the creation of a new constitution.
What is so precious about a democratic and free country is that it allows its people to express differing points of view, using rational communication and mutual compromise on a public and open stage to gradually build a consensus and achieve national acceptance, thus building the idea of a shared community. Democratic countries are better at resolving conflict and promoting an international environment of peaceful coexistence, while dictatorships and authoritarian regimes look down on democracy, freedom and human rights and become a source of regional unrest.
Taiwan's efforts at protecting basic human rights, democracy and freedom conform with the mainstream values of the international community, and they also promote a peaceful and stable international environment. Freedom, democracy and human rights are effective tools for dealing with China's verbal attacks and military threats.
History shows that nations that have these things are destined to succeed, while dictatorial and authoritarian oppression are destined to fail.
We must not underestimate our nation simply because China has a larger territy, more manpower and more natural resources.
The sustainable development of a nation does not depend on the volume of military equipment or the size of natural resources -- the most important factor is the establishment of a system of democracy, freedom and human rights.
We must value the achievements of the nation's democracy and freedom by implementing and spreading the ideas of democracy, freedom and human rights.
We must highlight the oppression of China's authoritarian dictatorship and use international support for democracy, freedom and human rights to dissolve Chinese pressure on Taiwan and thwart its ambitions to annex Taiwan, and we must help the Chinese people move toward this goal.
Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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