In a thinly veiled attack on KMT Chairman Lien Chan (
"Those people who say they are Taiwanese and Chinese for their own political benefit are immoral," Chen said in response to a reporter who had asked him whether he considered himself Taiwanese or Chinese, during a news conference at the Taipei Foreign Correspondents Club.
Lien told the media last week during his visit to the US, "Thank God, we are all pure Chinese."
Chen, who came to Taiwan as an infant, said he considers himself "100 percent Taiwanese" because he has no recollection of China and no affinity for it.
"As far as politics is concerned, my nationality is Taiwan and I am Taiwanese," he said.
"Some people, however try to confuse the general public by saying, `I am both Taiwanese and Chinese.' But you can't mix something that's political with something that is cultural," he said during the press conference.
"This doesn't have anything to do with bloodline or cultural heritage," he said. "Politically it [Taiwan] is my nationality," he said.
"Many people in the United States are originally from Britain, but how many Americans would say `I am both American and British?'" he said.
Chen also revealed details of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) government reform program, stressing the government will streamline the bureaucracy by laying off 35,000 civil servants before the end of the president's first term in May 2004.
"The goal of the government's downsizing plan is to reduce civil service staff by 35,000 by encouraging them to retire over the next two years," he said.
"The government has extended early retirement packages to civil servants, who will receive a bonus of seven months' salary," Chen said.
The job cuts could cost the government as much as NT$20 billion (US$574 million) in pensions, an aide to Chen added.
The president also talked about ethnicity yesterday when he spoke with college students, saying several politicians always try to raise the controversial problem in a bid to attract votes.
"Taiwan is small. All our people should stay united. There is no need to distinguish between mainlanders and Taiwanese."
Chen's remarks were in answer to the students' questions regarding a recent incident when a Kaohsiung City official last week said that the city's frequent flooding happened because "too many mainlanders had moved to the city."
Chen said he hopes the nation's younger generation can get rid of ethnic hatred, which sometimes still exists in the minds of their parents.
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