Blame Jammeh for breakup
First, let me say I am a Gambian national and very much appreciated the great contribution of Taiwan toward all corners of our economic development. Unfortunately, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who came to power in a military coup in 1994, controls the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Therefore, he can do whatever he likes, including unceremoniously cutting off relations with our best friend in the world.
The entire country is upset and are in mourning, but no one dares to speak out because it is a dictatorship — you could easily disappear for defending our relationship with Taiwan.
In addition, Jammeh is in desperate need of cash. Due to his terrible human rights record, he is now looking out for more money via new friends. Unfortunately, most of the cash goes to his personal bank account.
A few weeks ago, Jammeh also dumped the Commonwealth for the same reason, but this time around, he blamed “colonialism,” which was itself not true. Gambians are very sorry about what happened between Taiwan and us, but we hope that a better and more truthful relationship will be established in the near future — surely not under an ungrateful regime.
Marieme Sey
Banjul, the Gambia
Lesson from Tibet
In a lecture a few days ago, Yuan Hongbing (袁紅冰), an exiled Chinese academic now living in Australia, warned his audience and the nation that Taiwan must not sign a peace treaty with China and that if Taiwan signs a peace pact, the Taiwan of tomorrow will become like the Tibet of today.
Yen’s warning did not ignite a fire or attract the media’s attention to make it to the front pages of the print media. Neither did it become a topic of discussion in TV talk shows in the electronic media.
The timing of Yen’s bringing up this issue is significant, meaningful and insightful. He must be seeing something happening that the Taiwanese public is not.
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is for unification with China, it seems reasonable to believe that Ma and his lieutenants are right now at full speed planning, working and negotiating — underground and in private — on this issue with government officials in China.
What will a peace treaty mean for Taiwanese? It is dangerous to think and believe that a peace treaty with China will be beneficial to Taiwan and that it will bring prosperity and a better life for its people, and peace in the nation forever.
Taiwanese need to remember that China is a militarily aggressive country and an unfriendly neighbor whose ultimate goal is to take over, control and annex Taiwan.
More important is that Taiwanese need to learn a lesson from Tibet. China and Tibet signed a “17-Point Peace Agreement” in 1951. After that, the conflict between Tibetans and the Chinese never stopped. In 1956, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army moved into Tibet. The latest information available is that at least 2 million Tibetans have been killed since then.
On the issue of a peace treaty, Taiwanese need to think more, read more and see more.
There are, of course, many articles and books on this subject. At least one article available is titled “Taiwan must avoid becoming a new Tibet” by Chow Mei-li (周美里), published in the Taipei Times on April 2, 2010. It is useful, helpful and educational to understand what has been happening in Tibet.
What happened in Tibet must not happen in Taiwan. Taiwanese have to realize this before it is too late.
Ken Huang
Murrieta, California
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