President Chen Shui-bian (
While meeting with Gordon Chang, the Chinese-American writer of The Coming Collapse of China, Chen lambasted Lien's idea, which Lien floated on Sunday after the KMT selected him as its candidate for next year's presidential election.
Lien said that, if elected, he would make an immediate visit to China, dubbing the trip a "journey of peace."
He promised that he would push for the immediate opening of direct air links with China and sign agreements with Beijing so that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait can live in peace.
The president was quick to pour cold water on Lien's plans yesterday.
"China has never acknowledged Taiwan's name and its nationhood. If a certain person [promises to] immediately deny [the existence of] our nation once he is elected as president, [I] don't believe this sort of person would be elected," Chen said.
Chen said the nation's leader could only visit China if he accepts the "one China" principle, which would also mean accepting Beijing's "one country, two systems" and agreeing that Taiwan is a Chinese province or a special administrative region like Hong Kong.
Chen said there would be no Republic of China (ROC) under this scheme and no ROC president.
Defending his plan, Lien urged the president to refrain from setting a bad example in the presidential campaign by using vicious language and encouraged Chen to be "broad-minded."
Chen also reminded voters of the brutal nature of the regime in Beijing.
He said the Chinese government has trampled on human rights by deliberately hiding the spread of a deadly illness and by forbidding the media to cover the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. (SARS).
Chang said Beijing has made a negative impression on the world with its handling of the outbreak, adding that the incident has reminded the international community that it is irrational to prevent Taiwan from joining international organizations due to pressure from China.
Chen said SARS knows no national boundaries.
"Taiwan's being excluded from the World Health Organization shows disregard for the interests of 23 million Taiwanese," he said.
The president also disagreed with statements by Kenichi Ohmae, a Japanese academic, who predicted that China and Taiwan would form a "Chinese federation" as growing cross-strait integration gives way to political integration.
Chen said he is confident that the DPP will continue to rule after next March's presidential election and that political integration with China would not happen under a DPP administration.
Japan on Wednesday rejected Beijing’s accusations that the Japanese military harassed a Chinese aircraft carrier strike group during 40 days of exercises in “distant waters” of the Pacific. The Chinese navy earlier this week said that Japanese ships and aircraft “repeatedly engaged in close-range tracking, surveillance, harassment and provocation.” China said a formation led by its Liaoning aircraft carrier had operated in areas including the South China Sea and the western Pacific for “multiple rounds of day-and-night offensive and defensive exercise.” The Liaoning group “maintained a high state of alert throughout, launching carrier-based aircraft for combat sorties ... and steadily responding to the
COUNTER: The government should put forward a more proactive exchange policy for the youth and encourage them to engage with the wider world, the source said Beijing is trying to entice young Taiwanese to attend the Cross-Strait Sun Yat-sen Forum in Guangdong Province, China, by offering to cover all their expenses except round-trip airfare, an official said yesterday. “The cheapest things are the most expensive,” an official familiar with China’s “united front” work said, adding that such tours typically include visits to “red propaganda bases.” “These kinds of united front trips only end up bringing back a lot of falsehoods,” said the official, who wished to remain anonymous. The forum, which began on Saturday last week, ends today. China is offering an all-expense paid trip to Taiwanese participants aged
GLOBAL CONCERN: The UK, German and French offices reiterated their opposition to unilateral changes to the Taiwan Strait ‘status quo,’ particularly by threat or force The UK, Germany and France’s de facto embassies in Taiwan, as well as the US’ office, yesterday expressed concern over China’s “special maritime law enforcement operations” in waters east of Taiwan, saying that such behavior threatens regional stability. In a joint statement issued by the British Office Taipei, the German Institute Taipei and the French Office in Taipei, the three offices, which represent their respective countries’ interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties, said that they had “noted with concern novel Chinese activity in the waters east of Taiwan.” “These actions threaten regional stability, and the freedom of navigation
BUDGET HICCUP: While the NCSIST said part of the system is ready for deployment, opposition lawmakers removed the project’s funding during its legislative review Taiwan’s integrated air defense intelligence system is on track to be completed by the end of the year, and, if additional funding is approved, the military aims to deploy it next year, a military source said. The first phase of a next-generation, domestically developed regional air defense system combines the Huanzhan Project (寰展計畫), which integrates air defense intelligence across the armed forces, and the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s (NCSIST) Chiang Kung (強弓, “Strong Bow”) missile defense program, the source said on Saturday. The Huanzhan Project would establish an automated joint command-and-control network linking the army, navy and air force, replacing
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