Former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to take China's political motives seriously, saying that the recently signed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) was not merely about Taiwan having 539 items listed in the “early harvest” program while China only listed 267.
“The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party rushed to sign the ECFA because they realized economic unification would eventually lead to political integration,” she said in a press conference she called to address the ECFA. “I am asking President Ma not to ignore China's political intention or deny he has ever heard of such a theory.”
Citing the book Taiwan Disaster (台灣大劫難) written by Chinese dissident Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰), Lu said it was clear that China thought it would be more cost-effective to pay some economic price now in exchange for more political payback in the future.
Lu said the ECFA bore four historic meanings. First, it is a framework set up for the integration of Taiwan's economy and financial industry with the “one China market.” Second, the trade pact has changed Taiwanese society from one that opposes the Chinese Communist Party to a toady for the communist regime. Third, Taiwan's friendly relations with the US has been replaced by its intimate ties with China. Fourth, the trade pact has laid the foundation for China’s attempt to use economic integration to reach its ultimate goal of political unification.
Lu urged the public to develop a new thinking for Taiwan's future. She said she hoped the public would uphold the “1996 consensus,” recognizing Taiwan's independence on March 23, 1996, when the country held its first free election of national leaders.
She added that the public must put an end to the anti-China sentiment orchestrated by the former KMT regime, while at the same time spurning the Ma administration's overt attempt to curry favor with China, and replace such “pernicious vestiges” with a “new China perspective” whereby Taiwan is always the focus and Taiwan’s dignity and safety are well protected.
Finally, Lu said that although Taiwan gained de jure independence in 1996, it is not yet a normal country. She called on the ruling and opposition parties to aggressively push for constitutional reform to let Taiwan develop normal relations with the world, including China.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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