Chen says authoritarianism, not China, is the problem

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday blasted the Chinese Communist Party and its authoritarian system, but said that he hoped China would democratize as it rose and thereby contribute to international society.

"Democracy is the right way to go and there is no turning back," he said on the eve of a meeting between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) in Washington last night.

sleeping giant

Chen cited Napoleon, who is frequently misattributed as having said China was a "sleeping giant" that would shake the world when she awoke. Chen said that he hoped to see China awake to become a responsible stakeholder in the international community.

"Although Taiwan may seem naive to entertain the hope that China will become a democracy, I sincerely hope that the `rise of China' would be accompamied by democratic development, because it would be a blessing for the entire human race," he said.

Chen made the remarks yesterday morning while receiving Chinese dissidents and democracy activists, including Cao Changqing (曹長青), Ruan Ming (阮銘), Paul Lin (林保華) and Hu Ping (胡平), at the Presidential Office.

Chen said that no matter whether China remained an authoritarian regime or collapsed like the former Soviet Union, democracy would eventually prevail.

"China cannot resist the megatrend of freedom and democracy, even if it uses nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles or dictatorship," he said.

Taiwan's dispute with China is not about ideology or nationalism, Chen said. It is about a way of life and a political system.

Chen said that it was possible that the people of Taiwan would eventually choose to unite with China, but unification with China could not be set as the ultimate goal and only option for the people.

It is impossible for Taiwan to unite with China in the foreseeable future, he said, because it was inconceivable that Beijing would abandon authoritarian rule and allow China to become a democracy.

High alert

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was on heightened alert for the meeting between Bush and Hu, with ministry staff working round the clock to monitor what the two leaders had to say about Taiwan.

Ministry Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) yesterday said "we have to be confident about ourselves" in response to concerns that the Bush administration might make adverse comments about Taiwan under pressure from China.

However, Washington has assured Taipei that "no surprises" would come out of the meeting, Taiwan's representative to the US said in a recent interview with a US newspaper.

David Lee (李大維) said he has been told that Bush would resist any demands from the Chinese side for new pressure on Taiwan.

"I have met with a number of administration officials, and the word I keep getting is that there will be no surprises," Lee was quoted by the Washington Times as saying.

In related news, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday emphasized there was no communication problem between himself and the president. Su had been reported to have differed with Chen on the meeting between former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and Hu.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and Chang Yun-ping