The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday threw its weight behind the government's decision to add "Taiwan" in Roman script on the cover of Taiwanese passports, calling the move "belated justice."
TSU party spokesman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) called on pro-unification politicians to not see the word "Taiwan" as a "fearful beast" and to not oppose anything related to the word "Taiwan."
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Sunday said he had given the go-ahead to the addition of the word "Taiwan" to ROC passports in an effort to prevent Taiwanese travelers being mistaken for Chinese ones.
Although the decision has won acclaim from the general public, opposition politicians attacked the move as a gradual step toward the elimination of the country's formal designation, "Republic of China," and a move toward independence.
Su said if opposition politicians really love Taiwan, they should stop treating the word Taiwan as if it were a "venomous snake or ferocious beast," and they should not create the impression that the policy could not be carried out without the approval of Beijing authorities.
"The TSU hates to see Beijing given an opportunity to sow discord by using the country's internal conflicts.
"It seems to me that the opposition camp would not be satisfied unless [the move] provokes a reaction from Beijing," Su said.
China yesterday slammed the decision, suggesting that even "the island's own population was unhappy about the move."
Su made the comments in the company of defecting KMT lawmaker Lee Shan-ren (李先仁), who appeared for the first time yesterday at the TSU headquarters to announce his decision to join the pro-Taiwan political group.
Lee, a KMT legislator who lost his election bid on Dec. 1, told the media that he made the decision because he agrees with the localization and democratization principles adopted by the party.
The lawmaker said that, although the TSU is a small party without abundant resources, it has great potential under the guidance of former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee Shan-ren said that he has not forsaken his KMT membership and that he will accept whatever punitive measures are taken by the KMT, because he said he feels "it is no longer important."
The defecting KMT member said that it was only recently that some KMT officials expressed concern that he might be leaving, but he said that "their concern came too late."
Lee Shan-ren will take charge of the policy center of the TSU.
He is the first KMT legislator to defect to the TSU since the Dec. 1 legislative and local government elections.
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