Next year's legislative elections are critical to preventing Taiwan's hard-won democratic system from being devoured by China, a former Chinese official said at a forum on cross-strait issues yesterday.
The elections will be the first under a revised electoral system, which should help eliminate old political groupings favorable to China, Chinese political dissident Ruan Ming (
The forum discussed influences on Taiwan's democratic development in view of the recent movement to oust the president.
Ruan said that Taiwan's current political unrest was a sign that China's power is on the rise and the US' democratic power is ebbing.
Judging from China's recent curbs on press freedom and the "so-called crackdown" on corruption, China's totalitarian government has matured and is starting to expand its influence over Taiwan and other countries, he said.
"Taiwan is a newly born democratic country in Asia. However, the US is quite afraid of offending China, so the US tries hard to suppress what Taiwan's leader says about the nation's constitutional reforms, which is simply an effort to try and correct the fallacies in the Constitution," Ruan said.
"The US is gradually losing dominance in defending democracy in the world. Ironically, it needs the help of China -- a country with autocracy and slavery -- to attain its goals," he said.
Therefore, Taiwan cannot look to the US to protect its democracy, as China's "reactionary power" has infiltrated Taiwan and the anti-Chen movement launched by former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh (
"President Chen's three wishes made on the DPP's anniversary were to win the next three elections. But predictably, China's three wishes are to make Chen lose those three elections," he said. "Resisting China's anti-democratic power to devour Taiwan is up to the voters."
"The crucial and decisive chance to salvage Taiwan's hard-won democratic system is the 2007 legislative elections, which are going to employ the `single-member district, two-vote system,'" Ruan added.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai