An open letter to Singapore
This letter is to protest your Taiwan-bashing comments at the UN. There is no reason to say, as your foreign minister did, that an independence platform escalates the tension between Taiwan and China. You even criticize former president Lee Teng-hui's (
I doubt that any reputable nation would have blamed former US president John Kennedy for "escalating tension between Russia and the US" during the Cuban missile crisis.
China has prevented Taiwan from having normal diplomatic relations with other nations or having a say in the community of nations, including access to the World Health Organization and the International Red Cross -- although such access would have been especially useful during the 921Earthquake and last year's SARS outbreak.
I do not understand how you in Singapore can forget your own struggle to break away from Malaysia. Taiwan has shown its tolerance and restraint in the face of the mischief that China has dished out. Since the Republic of China (ROC) fled to Taiwan, the Taiwanese people accepted the new immigrants and most Chinese have accepted Taiwan as well, although indigenous languages and identity were suppressed. Human rights for all did not exist. President Chen Shui-bian (
Nevertheless, the Taiwanese people threw off the shackles of the old totalitarian regime to create a democracy. Taiwan has more to contribute to the world in this regard. Indeed, Taiwan even assists in your nation's military training.
With friends like you, Singapore, it must be hard for Chen -- and the Taiwanese people -- to tell friend from foe.
Rao Kok-sia
Boston
Mark Chen has got a pair
Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Chen (
Chen minister is the most courageous foreign minister since the one who presided over the ROC's dismissal from the UN in 1971.
Ken Huang
Memphis, Tennessee
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