Print

Mail

wiki links

Letter: Trading freedom for profits

There has been a lot of talk recently about Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law and some European governments' desire to lift the arms embargo on China. After reading several articles, however, it seems interesting to me that the French ambassador, Jean-David Levitte, called the embargo "outdated," and the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) called it "political discrimination, which is not in line with today's reality." And yet, they still cling to the outdated, politically discriminatory policy that Taiwan is part of China, which is not in line with today's reality.

It's unfortunate that those people who support "one China" are only looking to line their pockets with profits from its huge markets, and ignoring things like China's dismal human rights record and its export of military technology to terrorist states -- not to mention the Taiwanese people's quest for freedom, democracy and peace.

It would be safe to say that China hasn't been behaving as it should if it wants to be a responsible, international player, and I am appalled to see governments constantly kowtowing to Beijing just to gain economic access to the Chinese people. I've always felt that if China were the size of Taiwan, like North and South Korea, nobody would even listen to the Beijing authorities. Taiwan would be independent, and we wouldn't be dealing with this mess.

Andy Chen

Los Angeles, California
This story has been viewed 2141 times.