Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday announced that 65 repre-sentatives from more than 24 countries will attend a three-day Demo-cratic Pacific Assembly this weekend to discuss integration and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and promote Taiwan's role as a cradle of the new Pacific civilization.
The Friday to Sunday gathering, which Lu is organizing, is considered a first step toward her long-held goal of establishing a "Democratic Pacific Union," to promote regional political integration.
PHOTO: LUO PEI-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu has urged all democratic Pacific Rim countries to support the idea, saying that such a union would serve as an international stronghold of democratization in the region.
"If regional integration is the inevitable trend of the development of human civilization, and Europe, America and Africa are able to make great strides, why not the Pacific?" Lu said.
Lu said such a union is needed because 15 out of 39 countries in Asia are not yet democratic and four of the five remaining communist regimes are in Asia, "among which is the rising hegemonic power, the People's Republic of China."
"The Democratic Pacific Assembly could be regarded as the first step toward realizing an Asia-Pacific union. Through this preparatory work, all countries could create consensus and discuss a future framework," she said.
Lu said President Chen Shui-bian (
According to Lu, among those attending the assembly will be leaders of non-governmental organizations, the 1999 Nobel Prize winner and founding father of the euro Robert Mundell, and four vice presidents from Taiwan's Central America allies.
"Former United State Congressman Ben Gilman will serve as joint chairman with me," Lu said.
Lu said the assembly's secondary theme is to promote Taiwan's culture, which she said should become the facilitator of the new civilization of the Pacific Ocean in the 21st century.
"We hope to start a `Discovery of the New Pacific' project and we will launch `Discovery of the New Taiwan' campaign by inviting potential leaders from Pacific democracies to experience the new spirit of Taiwan," Lu said.
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