The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) "one China means Republic of China" statement as a contradiction of the cross-strait reality and a hackneyed tune that has straitjacketed Taiwan's international participation.
Responding to Lien announcement, DPP Deputy Secretary General Lee Ying-yuan (
Lien's announcement, which was made during his just-concluded visit to Washington last week, was seen as a reaction to the simmering national identity issue and an effort to avoid leaving the impression that the KMT advocates Taiwan's unification with China.
Amid increasing public support in recent opinion polls for President Chen Shui-bian's (
Lee, however, yesterday questioned whether Lien had abandoned his plan for a confederation system between Taiwan and China, whether Lien had denied the "one China" theory proposed by Soong and whether Lien had acknowledged the existence of two Chinas.
"Any political discussion cannot deviate from the truth," Lee said.
DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), who serves as the chairwoman of the party's International Affairs Department, said that the KMT's insistence on the "one China" principle is the major cause of Taiwan's international alienation and it should be held accountable for the loss of diplomatic allies.
Hsiao said that the "one China means ROC" formula was contradictory to international reality and could not solidify the public's national identity awareness.
"If the KMT hadn't insisted on the legitimacy of the ROC government, Taiwan would have been given a seat in the UN back in 1971 when the People's Republic of China replaced the ROC on the UN's Security Council," Hsiao said.
Meanwhile, as polls showed a growth in the DPP's traditional-support base in the wake of the Oct. 25 march in Kaohsiung which attracted some 200,000 people, KMT officials yesterday expressed worries that the party was too "soft and quiet" compared to the DPP's active campaign mobilization.
At the KMT's weekly Central Standing Committee yesterday, KMT legislator Lee Chuan-chiao (
KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (陳學聖) warned the party to be aware of the narrowing of public support between Chen and the pan-blue's Lien-Soong presidential ticket as the integration of the KMT and PFP was supposed to outmatch the DPP.
Lien also criticized the party as too "conservative" and "quiet" ahead of the presidential campaign.
Meanwhile, a Chinese-language newspaper yesterday reported that some KMT high-ranking officials had suggested that Lien promise that he won't push for unification with China during his presidential tenure if he was elected next year.
In response, Lien said in the near future, China and Taiwan should adopt a "parallel development" model.
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