The existence of the Republic of China (ROC) does not require Beijing’s approval, said Wang Hsiao-po (王曉波), professor of philosophy at Shih Hsin University, in comments directed at politicians of both the ruling and opposition parties during a speech on Sunday at a national affairs forum celebrating the ROC’s centennial.
Wang was critical of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for calling on China to “face the existence of the Republic of China head-on.”
Those who most needed to “face the ROC head-on” are former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is seeking to unseat Ma in January’s presidential election, Wang said.
Wang said Tsai’s recent campaign remarks that the ROC is Taiwan — and vice versa — was an attempt to use the ROC as a tool to win more votes in the upcoming election.
On the other hand, Wang said, Tsai “will not and dare not” declare Taiwan an independent country.
“That’s why I’d say she was abusing the ROC,” he said.
The ROC has more than 20 diplomatic allies, “much more than the ‘Republic of Taiwan,’ which has none,” Wang said.
While it is a fact China has snatched away the right to interpret and represent all of China, Wang said, Taiwanese should be confident in declaring that they too have a right to the sovereignty of mainland Chinese territory.
According to the ROC Constitution, under which the presidential election will be held in January, both China and Taiwan are territories of the ROC.
Wang said Tsai should not lose confidence in her country, even though the DPP presidential candidate acknowledges the rise of China.
In the same vein, Ma in his Double Ten National Day address should not have called on Chinese leaders to “face the existence of the ROC head-on,” Wang said.
“This sounds as if you’re standing an inch below the other guy” going into a fight in a ring, Wang said.
“Does the existence of the ROC need to be approved by the mainland Chinese authorities? Now that democracy has taken root in Taiwan, do we need a square look by others? If the mainland had not taken a square look at us, would it have signed the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with us?” Wang said.
He said because the Chinese Communist Party was incapable of unifying the country, it had no alternative but to call for unifying the country under its “one country, two systems” formula.
When Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) called for an end to the political stand-off and a healing of historical wounds for the sake of revitalizing the nation, “he was actually seeking peace with us,” Wang said.
He said that the ROC is not a failed country that will be reunified, but rather one with which “peace is being sought.”
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