In response to a Walter Chung's letter, "Taiwan needs marketing plan" (Nov. 12, page 8), I fully agree with Chung that Taiwan has a strong case for independence, and that Taiwanese people should strive hard to achieve their rights. The Chinese are not just trying to fool the world by claiming Taiwan as a province. They are in fact ruling over large parts of Mongolia, Manchuria, East Turkestan and Tibet, which they claim are all parts of "China."
Taiwan has been an independent identity for more than 500 years. It was never an integral part of China, although Chinese incursions happened on occasion. Such invasions don't make the target territories part of the aggressor's country. The British and the French, for example, ruled large parts of the world, but their countries remain what they originally were -- and neither encompasses their one-time colonies of India or Vietnam.
The Chinese built the Great Wall, a symbol of a colossal waste of human lives and time, to protect their country from barbarian invaders and demarcate their border. But now they claim that regions far beyond that wall have been integral parts of "China" since time immemorial. For example they renamed Manchuria -- the homeland of some of the fiercest of the barbarian invaders -- as northeast China, though it lies far beyond the wall built to protect China.
In the face of such doublespeak, Taiwan must seize the moment, because a country should never compromise on its independence and self-respect.
Rohit Singh
Mumbai, India
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