Former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said Hong Kong's current plight under the "one country, two systems" should serve as a warning to Taiwan that freedom and democracy can never co-exist under China's authoritarian regime.
"The `one country, two systems' principle is a self-contradictory formula because an authoritarian regime cannot allow an open and democratic free society. Taiwan is different from Hong Kong in that its sovereignty rests on its 23 million people and therefore, there is no such a problem in Taiwan," Lee said yesterday in his speech to wrap up the two-day international conference on Hong Kong's experiences under the "one country, two systems" formula at Taipei's Grand Hotel.
The two-day conference was held by Taiwan Advocates, a think tank headed by Lee.
Lee yesterday presided over a round-table discussion of the conference under the title of "Hong Kong -- a Lesson for Taiwan," indicating that under the "one country, two systems" formula, Hong Kong has been increasingly uncertain about its economic reliance on China because it has lost its will to seek its status as an independent economic entity in a global context.
"Hong Kong has lost its will to run its economy in a global context; instead it has relied more closely on economic and trade exchanges with China. As a result, Hong Kong has lost its direction because it cannot get rid of its role as simply a port in China's Pearl River Delta and come back to its former status as the Pearl of the East in the context of the global economy," Lee said.
The former president concluded by saying that although Beijing's attempt to enact an anti-subversion law in Hong Kong has clouded the territory's democratic future, the strong self-determination shown by the people of Hong Kong in the July 1 march to protest against China's authoritarian regime has inspired hope for its fight for democracy.
Observing Hong Kong's development after the turnover to China, Lee said China has used "nationalism, patriotism and commercial interests" to package its power and hypnotize the general public.
"Taiwan faces some similar problems," Lee said.
Lee said China's various threats toward Taiwan -- military, political, economic and social threats -- have made some people in Taiwan prefer economic affluence to political freedom. Lee said that these people also believe that if the nation made concessions, Taiwan could maintain peace and stability.
"However, viewing Hong Kong's experience we know not only are they losing their democracy, but their basic rights are being undermined," Lee said.
The round-table discussion yesterday was joined by academics and government officials from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Taiwan Advocates Vice Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) yesterday said the "one country, two systems" model proves that the Special Administrative Region is just a slogan China uses to continue its authoritarian rule.
Hong Kong Legislative Councilor Emily Lau (劉慧卿) said yesterday "through the discussion of the conference, we felt that Taiwanese people expressed a lot of pessimism about Hong Kong's future under the "one country, two systems" model. However as a legislative councilor, I don't agree that Hong Kong's situation is hopeless. I still have to say that we will strive for the utmost freedom and democracy within the system."
Lee Yee (李怡), a well-known political commentator from Hong Kong yesterday said "we disagreed with President Chen Shui-bian's (
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