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 (
NATURE TAKES ITS COURSE: The agency’s head said he felt a sense of loss watching red-banded snakes eat the babies, as they had decided on non-intervention The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday released a documentary on a hundred-pace viper that had incubated 16 eggs, all of which hatched, but only a baby viper escaped after they were attacked by red-banded snakes. The agency’s Taichung branch last year launched the viper reproduction monitoring project soon after forest rangers Lin Chun-yu (林俊佑) and Chou Chia-cheng (周家成) spotted a pregnant hundred-pace viper in a grass-covered burrow near a parking lot in Tbulan Village (松鶴部落). The Atayal village, in Taichung’s Heping District (和平), is headed by Ecyang Yapu, who was positive about the project and assisted in access control and power
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said that it had deployed vessels to “monitor” Chinese ships operating in waters off the east coast. The CGA said it dispatched vessels in response to a China Coast Guard announcement that it had carried out another “routine law-enforcement patrol” in waters off the east coast. “The CGA firmly rejects China’s cognitive warfare campaign of ‘law enforcement in name, jurisdictional expansion in practice,’” it said on X. As of 11am yesterday, two China Coast Guard ships were “loitering and drifting” about 105 nautical miles (195km) and 74 nautical miles east of Green Island (綠島) respectively, it said. It
A sharp rise in compensation to be paid by air force officers who leave before completing their required service could indicate an increase in pilots leaving the military early, an analyst said on Friday, warning that the trend could worsen a shortage of experienced personnel. Chieh Chung (揭仲), a researcher at the Association for Strategic Foresight, issued the warning even though the number of volunteer military personnel is expected to increase next year. The planned headcount for volunteer military personnel, covering officers, noncommissioned officers (NCO) and enlisted soldiers, is 158,223 for next year, up 4,258 from 153,965 this year, Chieh said. The increase
A Straits Exchange Foundation official today warned that yielding to political pressure in exchange for access to China’s entertainment industry rarely ends well, amid rumors that China is seeking to lure Taiwanese K-pop star Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜). Chou, more commonly known as Tzuyu, is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice. Her contract with JYP Entertainment is set to expire at the end of this year, and there have been widespread reports that she would not renew it. She is reportedly planning to pursue solo activities under her parents’ agency, Yu Hai Entertainment (瑜海娛樂), although China has also reportedly offered
RSS