China's latest acts of intimidation against Taiwanese entertainers and China-based businesspeople proves that Beijing has not yet altered its imperialist and nationalistic attitude, said former president Lee Teng-hui (
"Such bullying behavior is similar to that of the Nazis," Lee said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The obnoxious behavior is not targeted at individual Taiwanese but at the nation's freedom and democracy," he said.
"As long as China is not a democratic country, people who believe in freedom and democracy will continue to be suppressed by China and treated as its enemy," he said.
Lee made the remarks in a keynote speech at a seminar entitled "Support China-based Taiwanese businesspeople, call out to China."
The seminar, organized by the Taiwan Advocate and Taiwan Thinktank, was called to review the "march west" economic policy of many China-based Taiwanese businesspeople.
During Lee's one-hour speech, he called on the public to speak up in response to the recent string of intimidation efforts against Taiwan-ese in China, including the Aboriginal pop diva Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), better known as A-mei, and Chi Mei Group founder Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍).
A-mei was forced to cancel a concert last week due to an online boycott staged by students from Zhejiang University, who accused her of supporting Taiwan's independence and called on Beijing to stop her from earning money in China.
The official People's Daily accused Hsu of using profits gained in China to finance the independence movement in Taiwan.
Hsu later relinquished his position as Chi Mei chairman in an attempt to defuse tensions.
Lee said that many of this nation's economic problems, such as high unemployment and deflation, could be attributed to the fact that the "no haste, be patient" policy he pioneered was not thoroughly carried out.
"Without this policy, problems such as overproduction, high unemployment and kidnappings of China-based Taiwanese business-people would be even worse," he said.
China's rapid economic development has not led it to become a freer and more democratic state, only to become more tyrannical, he said.
Lee called on China to pay more attention to its own economic problems and less to nationalism.
"To prevent nationalism and anti-democratic thinking from causing internal disorder ... China must stop treating Taiwan, Japan and the US as its enemies and make genuine efforts to cooperate and get along with Taiwan and other countries," Lee said.
If Beijing fails to change its erroneous polices, Lee said, the Taiwanese people must realize that China will never regard Taiwan as its friend or ally.
The government and other countries should learn a lesson from the failed experience of China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and never seek to appease China's bullying behavior, he said.
Lee called on businesspeople to focus more on developing a knowledge-based economy and less on moving to China.
"We must walk our own path so we don't have to depend on China nor be afraid of it," Lee said.
Following Lee's speech, five political and economic commentators, including Chinese dissident writer Cao Chang-qing (
Labelling China's intimidation against Taiwanese entertainers and businesspeople "hooliganism," Cao called on the Taiwanese people and government to fight back.
"Don't think you lucked out if you have not been targeted by the Chinese government this time, because your time will come," Cao said.
"The Taiwanese should stand up and tell China that you won't accept its intimidation," he said.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)