The international community's stern warnings to China prove that it will not tolerate the communist regime trying to influence the outcome of Taiwan's election, DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) told heads of small and medium-sized enterprises yesterday.
Chen made the comments while advocating his own "stability card" to supporters in Kaohsiung, saying the international outrage at China's recent white paper on Taiwan unification pointed to a commitment by the US and Japan to support a DPP-led government in Taiwan.
Chen told the group of businessmen that Taiwan's people proved their willingness to reject threats from Beijing four years ago, when China launched missiles into the Taiwan Strait in an attempt to dissuade voters from electing Lee Teng-hui (
"The Chinese Communists seem to have forgotten the lesson of failure from the 1996 presidential election. Any menace to Taiwan will only increase the possibility of separation between Taiwan and China," Chen said.
"This time," Chen said, "the international community also warned the Chinese government against any military action. And they used a tone much stronger then any used before, by pledging to protect Taiwan's security," Chen said.
At yesterday's rally, Chen repeatedly advocated that Taiwan should never choose its national leader under threat or pressure, and that the international community has already welcomed the possibility of a transfer of power in Taiwan.
"The US and Japanese governments are already prepared to accept a DPP victory, and even the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is ready to initiate a relationship with a DPP government," Chen said.
Chen also publicized a letter to enterprises in which he claimed the KMT has tried to initiate negotiations with the CCP for the past fifty years, but that the only response has been threats against Taiwan's voters.
"The relationship between Taiwan and China has reached its lowest point in a while, and the situation could not be worse in the near future," Chen said.
"To welcome the new century, Taiwan should neither tolerate the conflict between the KMT and the Communist Party, nor allow the KMT to continually represent Taiwanese in solving the problem," Chen said.
Chen also stressed that genuine peace for Taiwan will result only from an insistence on the principles of "Taiwan First" and "Taiwan's Sovereignty."
DPP campaign staffers said the candidate has stepped up efforts in the business community to counter what Chen called the KMT's so-called "whisper tactics" that claim the DPP's platform would provoke China into invading Taiwan.
The DPP has predicted that Chen may garner over 40 percent of the vote in southern Taiwan's Tainan and Kaohsiung cities and counties, as well as in Pingtung County.
Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) told the city's residents yesterday that Chen must lead his rivals by at least 500,000 votes to win the election, and attacked what he said was the central government's failure to pay attention to construction in southern Taiwan.
"The central government has treated us as second-class citizens. If we want to improve the situation, voters in southern Taiwan need to unseat the KMT. Then the KMT will have to accept the consequences on the night of March 18," Hsieh said.
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