Lee says China's behavior at APEC is all too typical

TTV: How should we view the Taiwanese delegation's withdrawal from the APEC summit?

Lee Teng-hui (李登輝): From the television programs on Thursday, everyone can understand the rude attitude with which Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) treated Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) and we can see the way China usually treats Taiwan.

Most importantly, what kinds of strategies does China use to make Taiwan surrender, that is to eradicate the Republic of China? On this point, let's first hear from Ruan Ming about how China uses negotiating tactics to achieve its goals.

Ruan Ming (阮銘): China is a hegemonic power. That it oppresses and humiliates Taiwan can be seen very clearly from Tang's performance on Thursday. Against this hegemony, we should adopt a principled attitude, so I support President Chen's (陳水扁) measures. Why did Tang dare to act the way he did Thursday in an international forum -- not just against Taiwan's officials but also against reporters? He has seen that Taiwan isn't unified domestically and an election is coming. He wants to support candidates who oppose Taiwan as an independent entity. That's why he acted as he did.

In Tang's eyes, Chen's appointment of Li Yuan-zu (李元簇) had political implications. This precisely reflected Tang's own hidden political agenda. I don't know whether President Chen had a hidden agenda, but Tang felt Chen was trying to score [political] points and refused to give it to him.

China's negotiations follow some principles. They want to eradicate the ROC, but as long as policies such as the WTO or the "three links" (三通) are beneficial to China, they will agree to them. Their uncompromising attitude on APEC primarily depends on public opinion in Taiwan. If public opinion is unified, then there is nothing to fear. China's nature is to bully soft people and fear the tough ones. So if we are unified, they can't do anything.

Chin Heng-wei (金恆煒): At the end of the [APEC] meeting on Thursday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell stepped up to shake hands with Lin Hsin-yi. This was an extremely powerful signal. I think all those attending the meeting must also have been shocked by Tang's performance.

Another point regards [Beijing's objection to] the name "Communist China" (中共) [used by Taiwanese journalists]. In the past Taiwan was called "Nationalist," but later this term was no longer used because after popular elections, the government obtained constitutional legitimacy. But the old term "Communist China" is still around because even now their government still hasn't obtained constitutional legitimacy.

TTV: What is the difference between the controversial localization (本土化) and de-Sinicization (去中國化)?

Lee: This has to do with the "one-China" issue. In the old KMT era, "gentlemen won't stand together with thieves" (漢賊不兩立, meaning the KMT wouldn't coexist with the Communists) was the talk of the day. This was the principle that they emphasized. In the past, they believed there was only the ROC. Even though they lost the mainland, they still believed the mainland belonged to the ROC. This kind of concept created the "one-China" dictum. However, along with the change in our international status, "one China" naturally became the PRC. This situation was a natural change that followed our international status.