Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that although China faces many serious internal problems, it still remains a hostile threat to Taiwan and the rest of the world.
Lu made the remarks when receiving representatives of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Los Angeles along with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) Chairwoman Chang Fu-mei (張富美). Lu encouraged them to learn more about the development of Taiwan during their visit and how it differs from China.
Lu said that China experiences unbalanced development in both its rural and urban areas, in contrast to Taiwan, where each of the 319 townships have different characteristics that make them attractive to overseas visitors.
"We have people of different ethnicities that live peacefully together. We now also have 250,000 immigrants from other countries, who also help to enrich Taiwanese society," Lu said.
Taking the population issue as an example, Lu said that Taiwan now faces a crisis regarding future shortages of manpower while China is busy tackling its looming demographic, or imbalance of the sexes crisis -- a result of the "one-child policy."
Lu reminded her guests that China remains militarily hostile to not just Taiwan but also the rest of the world, despite the fact it has so many unresolved internal problems. Citing information from the Pentagon, Lu said that Taiwan continues to live under the shadow of more than 700 Chinese missiles.
"Next year, the number of missiles deployed by China will exceed 1,000. China's middle-range and ballistic missiles are capable of reaching Japan, the US and even Europe. Although China claims that it is rising peacefully, its worldwide military ambition is there for all to see," she said
Lu said that Taiwan's existence defends the values of freedom, democracy and human rights, all values that are ignored by China -- a country which pursues only economic development.
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