Taiwan is an independent country and what needs to be done now in keeping with reality is to change the country's official title from "Republic of China" to "Republic of Taiwan," former president Lee Teng-hui (
The former president made the remark in an interview with the Washington Post, which published the report yesterday.
"Taiwan is already an independent country," Lee said in the interview with the Post during his ongoing tour in Washington.
What is needed now is for the formal name "Republic of China" to be dropped in favor of the reality, the Republic of Taiwan, Lee said, according to the Post report.
Also, the growing military imbalance with China has made it increasingly necessary for the nation to acquire "some kind of long-range missiles" that would give it an offensive capability, Lee added.
"The psychological effect is important" in order to deter China from attacking Taiwan, Lee said.
The Bush administration has pushed Taiwan to buy "defensive" weaponry, but Lee said the package under consideration would leave Taiwan shortchanged.
A purely defensive posture, he said, "is a very big risk to the military balance across the Taiwan Strait."
Meanwhile,the deepening split between pan-green and pan-blue forces and the pan-blue drive toward reconciliation with Beijing became a major talking point on Tuesday, as Lee held meetings with academics, former government officials and other Taiwan specialists on the second day of his four-day visit to Washington, according to participants in the discussions.
As Lee continued to stress the need for the US to support Taiwan's democracy and security against a Chinese military attack, Americans he met seemed more concerned over pan-blue activities and their implications for US security concerns in the Taiwan Strait.
China's increased threat to Taiwan and the need for the nation to defend itself, particularly by boosting military spending and purchasing the weaponry the Bush administration has agreed to sell to Taiwan, was a main theme of Lee's meetings, according to sources familiar with the meetings, which were all private and held in secret.
The "split personality" in Taiwan, as one participant put it, was a major concern of the American participants. They viewed with worry the pan-blue efforts to gain points with Beijing as part of their efforts to regain power from the DPP government, sources said.
Some participants were "alarmed and concerned" over the pan-blue efforts. "The pull to the west [China] is becoming irresistible," as one participant characterized the US' concerns.
With the sensitivity of Lee's visit for the Bush administration in view of China's ardent condemnation of the visit in recent days, participants spoke with the Taipei Times on condition of anonymity.
Lee came to Washington with the stated intention of solidifying US-Taiwan relations and to assure continued US commitment to Taiwan's security in the face of China's threats and Beijing's accelerating military modernization.
But the emergence of concerns over pan-blue actions appears to have cast a major shadow over the aims of Lee's visit.
Lee started the day with a meeting of former chairpersons of the American Institute in Taiwan. He later had lunch with some two dozen specialists and former government officials at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Later, Lee was the guest of honor at a gala dinner hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Relations Office at its Washington mansion, Twin Oaks.
A high point in his visit was to come last night, when the US Congress held a reception in his honor.
Several dozen senators and representatives were expected to attend the reception in the Capitol, which was arranged mainly by the Senate's Taiwan Congressional Caucus, which has been largely moribund since its formation.
Today, Lee is scheduled to make a presentation and hold a news conference at the National Press Club before heading to Los Angeles for the last stop in his five-city US tour.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS