China's first white paper on democracy, published last Wednesday, was nothing more than "propaganda," and it actually tells the international community to stop daydreaming about democracy in China, officials and analysts said yesterday.
A private forum held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) affiliated Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, discussed the recently published white paper, China analysts said the propaganda-style white paper revealed how little the Chinese authorities know about democracy, as it insisted on making a distinction between Western style democracy and that practiced in China.
The 74-page white paper, entitled Building of Political Democracy in China emphasized China's insistence on developing its own system of democracy as "the situations differ from one country to another, the paths the people of different countries take to win and develop democracy are different." The paper said that China's path is one of "socialist democracy with its own characteristics," which has "realized the Chinese people's demand to be masters of their own country."
MOFA Spokesperson Michel Lu (呂慶龍) yesterday said "the white paper is merely a piece of propaganda. It reflects its intention to create a theory on democracy to justify the demands from the outside world to open up to political democracy," the ministry spokesman said.
Ruan Ming (阮銘), a national policy adviser to the president said during the forum, "China's democracy white paper is actually very offensive in the sense that it tells the international community, which still hold hopes for democracy in China, to stop dreaming of such an idea."
Ruan said China's purpose in issuing the white paper is to strengthen Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) ambition to become a hegemon.
Ming Chu-cheng (
"The reason Hu found it possible to make his way to the top is because he has shown he has the nerve to kill people," Ming said, referring to Hu's record of ordering numerous bloody suppressions of Tibetans and Chinese dissidents.
"It is wrong to have any hope of Hu carrying out political reforms in China," Ming said, adding that the kind of democratic definition China claims in line with its own national and social characteristics is not true democracy at all.
Tung Li-wen (董立文), director of the Democratic Progressive Party's International Affairs Department, said the white paper revealed the worrying tendency that political reform in China is likely to be postponed, as well as beijing's attempt to build up of an "anti-democracy" discourse in the country.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
RSS