Chen on the right track
I applaud President Chen Shui-bian (
The promise of Taiwan has and continues to be that it might respond and interact with the world it finds itself in, rather than atrophy in stultified and dated traditions, and thereby become something definitive of itself, something new and admirable.
Education, judicial and financial reforms, political overhaul, eradication of the culture of corruption and a new constitution -- damn right.
While Chen shows his first signs of truly national vision, the pan-blue camp would have us back in the days of fascism, fallacy and feudalism. Boring.
Let's hope that the Taiwan-ese electorate deal with the existing constitution in the same manner with which they seem to treat all things old -- throw it out and get a new one.
William Meldrum
Taipei
Lien, Lin both wrong
Both Chinese Nationalist Party Chairman Lien Chan (連戰)and Taiwan Normal University professor Lin Man-hong (林滿紅) have twisted the history regarding the status of Taiwan. They wrongly claim that the 1952 Republic of China (ROC)-Japan Treaty formally transferred Tai-wan's sovereignty from Japan to the ROC.
The 1952 treaty signed by Yeh Kung-chao (葉公超) and Isao Kawada in Taipei is a carbon copy of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty signed by Japan and 48 countries. Neither the ROC nor the PRC was invited to the San Francisco conference.
In both treaties, "Japan has renounced all rights and claims to Taiwan and Penghu" without specifying the beneficiary. Based on this simple statement, neither the ROC nor the 48 countries can claim Taiwan as the beneficiary. Both treaties left the status of Taiwan up in the air.
The people of Taiwan have made the island into an independent country -- unfortunately keeping the confusing name ROC and an improper constitution.
Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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