A Chinese dissident yesterday urged Taiwan to insist on its values of democracy and human rights in its dealings with Beijing and be a partner in the international community’s effort of containing China, instead of taking China’s side.
Expressing concerns over Taiwan’s tilting toward China, former Chinese democracy activist Wilson Chen (陳破空), now a US-based writer, told a symposium that Taiwan “cannot become a gap in the global China-containment strategy.”
As outgoing Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) brought up the issues of a peace treaty and a military confidence-building mechanism in his farewell speech at the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 18th National Party Congress last week, Chen said Beijing would likely keep pushing for political negotiations with Taiwan after the new leadership takes over.
Photo: Chen Hui-ping, Taipei Times
If Taiwan did enter into negotiations with China, its best bargaining chip would be democracy and human rights, Chen said.
Citing Japan as an example, Chen said Tokyo had misjudged the political situation and misused its culture, which values humility. However, its deference toward Beijing did not bear fruit and improve Japan’s ties with China.
Taiwan should instead pattern itself after the Western powers, such as the UK, the US and France, by engaging China while bringing up democracy and human rights issues at every opportunity, he said.
“At the end of the day, China would not cut off its exchanges with Taiwan or attack Taiwan with missiles in retaliation. Taiwan should be brave enough to be a voice that hopefully will someday bring about changes in China,” Chen said.
In an analysis of the future political situation in China, the writer said that the recently concluded national party congress marked a major victory for the CCP’s conservative wing, so there would be neither political reform in China nor dramatic changes in Beijing’s Taiwan policy in the near future.
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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
RSS