Former president Lee Teng-hui (
Lee made the remarks at a forum discussing "the imminent crisis that Taiwan is facing" held by the Taiwan Advocates (
In his opening speech, Lee, who is the president of Taiwan Advocates, said that Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is employing Lien to make mischief in Taiwanese society, adding that Hu's tactic shows that China has launched its offensive to divide Taiwan from every angle.
"The serious crisis that Taiwan faces is not China's military threat, but its new strategy of fomenting dissent in Taiwanese society," Lee said. "In the wake of the passage of the `Anti-Secession' Law, it is obvious that China is assuming a strategy of allying with the pan-blue camp to attack the pan-green camp, and utilizing Taiwanese to subdue Taiwanese."
Lee said that Lien and Hu's cooperation aims to push Taiwanese to identify with China -- and was the reason Hu had praised Lien as "having a Chinese heart."
Noting the first crisis caused by Lien's trip is that Taiwan's sovereignty might be eliminated, Lee questioned why Lien did not dare to bring the national flags of the Republic of China (ROC) with him and almost never dared to utter the word "ROC" in China.
"It proves that the `defending the ROC' that they talked about all the time is a lie," Lee said. "In fact, they are just echoing the Beijing authorities' policy of `anti-Taiwanese independence and facilitating unification,'" he said.
Lee said that Lien and Soong, after establishing a partnership with Beijing, might launch a "political blitz" in Taiwan to destabilize the country. This could include measures such as working with pan-blue lawmakers to propose to recall the president.
"Lien and Soong are taking advantage of Taiwan's freedom and democracy as a protective umbrella and colluding with China to launch a civil war against democracy" in Taiwan, which aims to facilitate their great undertaking -- the unification of China," Lee said, adding that this was the second crisis facing the nation -- having its democracy undermined.
The third crisis the people of Taiwan face is losing their hard-won freedom and democracy, he said.
"Everyone in Taiwan has already long enjoyed democracy and freedom. As a result, some people think freedom and democracy are dispensable," Lee said. "If we don't cherish the accomplishments of our successful democratic reforms, our descendants will unavoidably pay for it by losing their freedom."
Political commentator Yang Hsien-hung (楊憲宏) said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should declare that his "four noes and one not" pledge is no longer in effect given that China's "Anti-Secession" Law has destroyed the premise of the promises -- that China does not use force against Taiwan.
"I think President Chen's pledge was the wedge of today's situation that has lead to the political tsunami that has almost engulfed Taiwan," Yang said.
Ruan Ming (
National Chungshan University professor Chang Hsi-mo (
Chinese dissident writer Cao Ching-qing (
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS