Lee reaffirms his position on a number of key issues

Despite fierce opposition to his ideas from the pan-blue camp, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) stuck to his guns yesterday, telling a women's group that the country needs a new Constitution to meet the needs of the people.

The Constitution was amended six times under Lee's administration but has become useless for today's society because it was tailored to meet the needs of China in 1947, he said.

Given the difficulties in updating the Constitution through amendments, the former president said the country should adopt a new one approved by the people through a referendum.

Lee spoke at the end of a week in which the issue of a referendum law raised tempers in the legislature.

On Wednesday, opposition lawmakers blocked a referendum law proposed by a DPP lawmaker in the legislature's Home and Nations Committee.

Lee said that he preferred the initiative and referendum law (創制複決法), which the Cabinet has drawn up and does not allow for referendums on such issues as the nation's name.

Lee made the comments while giving a lecture entitled "A Beautiful Homeland" to a women's group whose Taiwanese name loosely translates as "Beautiful Woman" and is an ardent supporter of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Lee again sought to raise Taiwanese awareness, saying that understanding one's own history and geography was the first step in building a strong nation.

He said Taiwan had been ruled by alien regimes for centuries and that Taiwanese were therefore losing their ability to be the masters of their own nation.

At this critical moment, Lee said, Taiwanese should have strong leadership, a clear national identity and sense of unity to establish a nation of their own.

Chen's job was tougher than Lee's because he had to deal with both irrational opposition parties and Chinese military intimidation, Lee said.

Lee went on to attack the media.

He called on the media to be more professional and show self-restraint, reporting only what is true. He said the people no longer knew what to believe because the media enjoyed too much freedom.

He said the media tended to be unfair about the DPP's performance and about himself.

He said that he was "not afraid of anything because I am a man with integrity."

A strong opponent to direct trade, postal and transport links between the two sides of Taiwan Strait, Lee said the government should be more concerned about the middle class, which didn't have money to invest in China.

Lee suggested the government stress national security rather than economic development.

He also said the country should support the US fight against terrorism and develop offensive weapons to counter China's military threat.