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Strong democracy helps cross-strait peace: DPP

Taiwan should deepen its democratic development to help speed up China's democratization, which will create favorable conditions for cross-strait peace, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said on Tuesday.

Su, currently on a visit to the US, made the remarks during an unofficial gathering with Chinese-language media in Washington.

Su said that democracy in Taiwan was achieved through more than 20 years of hard work and that he believes the 1.3 billion people in China will also be able to attain the goal.

Taiwan should work even harder to improve its democracy to enable people on the other side of the Taiwan Strait to make a comparison with the totalitarian rule under which they are living, he said.

If Taiwan fails to set a good example, it would struggle to convince China to follow suit, he said.

Su said he was very proud to be a Taiwanese who has witnessed and participated in what he called the "earthshaking transformation" of Taiwan from an authoritarian society to a democracy enjoying full freedom of speech over the past decades.

He urged all the people of Taiwan to cherish this hard-fought achievement and continue to seek improvement.

Regarding the year-end elections for county and city chiefs, Su said the DPP has reached a consensus with the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) to cooperate in fielding candidates in the elections.

Su said he met with TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) before departing for the US and they are both aware that the two parties must cooperate to win the elections.

The two parties will consult with each other to jointly field candidates who best suit the expectations of the voters, Su said.

During his stay in Washington, Su will meet leaders of the Democratic Party and Republican Party and other US politicians. He was scheduled to give a speech on Taiwan's democracy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies yesterday.
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