Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said in Washington on Thursday that “step by step and day by day” Taiwan was being changed into Chinese Taipei.
There was a danger, she said, that Taiwan would lose its democracy and become a province of China.
She said that under President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) pro-China policies, the country could be cooked like a frog in gradually heating water until it is eventually “Hong Kong-ized” and eaten up by Beijing.
PHOTO: CNA
In a speech entitled “Prospects for Taiwan’s Future: All Options Open,” Lu told a conference at the National Press Club that while foreign observers were delighted by what they perceived as a decrease in tensions across the Taiwan Strait and an increase in stability, Taiwan had made compromises that were too deep and too large.
She said that agreements with China had excited some, but that others saw them as a trap arranged under China’s united front policy.
Lu did not meet with politicians or think tanks during the Washington visit but held talks with a number of leading US newspapers.
She said that she was now concentrating on her role as founder and publisher of the weekly Formosa Post and that while she remained a member of the DPP, she had no plans to run for political office.
Lu said she was confused by the many accusations against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and that she only hoped he would receive a fair and open trial.
She recalled that she had been a victim of the old political system and did not want to see the courts abused again.
A short biography handed out by her aides read: “In a 1979 rally commemorating International Human Rights Day, she gave a 20-minute speech urging the then-Chinese Nationalist government to embrace democracy and improve human rights. Her speech landed her a 12-year sentence in jail. She was released in 1985 because of intense international pressure.”
Before DPP leaders go to China, she said, there needed to be four vital rules in place: There should be no preconditions set by Beijing; all aspects of the visit should be transparent; there should be no secret deals and those going should have no self interests involved.
Lastly, Lu urged all Americans to pay close attention to what was happening in Taiwan “before it is too late” and before pro-China policies “undermine the stability and strength” of the country.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS