Why oppose democracy?
As a Taiwanese, I am sincerely puzzled by the pressure the international democratic community puts on Taiwan to halt the plan to voice our opposition to the Chinese aggression through a peaceful popular vote.
I would like to pose three questions.
First, why are the Western democracies and Japan trying to interfere with the natural course of democratization in Taiwan? They seem to believe that Taiwan's democracy should be contained. How sincere are the US and the EU when they claim a love for democracy? Would they tell China where to stop once democratization, which they claim to support, has begun there?
Second, what constitutes the "status quo" that, according to US President George W. Bush, neither Taiwan nor China can unilaterally change?
Does increasing the current deployment of 496 Chinese missiles pointed at Taiwan to the expected 600 by the end of this year constitute a change to the "status quo"? If not, what about an increase to 1,000, 2,000 or 10,000 missiles? For that matter, what "status quo" in life can be "maintained" for more than a minute?
Third, if the Japanese don't like having North Korean missiles pointed at them, why is it so hard to understand that the Taiwanese are facing a more serious treat?
Sing Young
Taoyuan City
KMT perverts culture
Since the pan-blue camp announced its candidates for the upcoming presidential election, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not let a day go by without bad-mouthing President Chen Shui-bian (
In the most recent malicious attack on Chen, the KMT referred to Chen's year-old "golden grandson." Such a blatant personal attack goes beyond tolerable limits by any standard.
It is part of Taiwanese culture and a long-established tradition that proud grandparents refer to their grandchildren as "endearing gold." This tradition allows the elders to express their hope and joy that the next generation will carry forward the family's name.
It is a chauvinistic travesty of Taiwanese culture and tradition that the KMT has turned a term of endearment into a symbol of corruption and greed. This only highlights the KMT's superiority complex.
With such a grandstanding display of disrespect for the people, the KMT's campaign slogan of benefiting the people proves to be nothing but a big fat lie just to win votes.
The conscientious voters in Taiwan must ask themselves if they could trust the nation's future in the hands of the self-serving KMT.
Whether Taiwan will sink or swim depends entirely on the choice of each and every voter in Taiwan.
Ching H. Li
Changhua
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