Former president Lee Teng-hui's (
The book details the change in the relationship between Lee, former Control Yuan president Wang Tso-yung (
At a press conference held yesterday to launch the book, Wang outspokenly condemned Lee's attempts to "de-Sinicize" by attacking everything pertaining to China as if he were Japanese.
"Lee's purpose, as though he were Japanese, to negate Chinese culture and Chinese history is regrettable ? [Lee] tended to exaggerate the contribution made by Japan to Taiwan during the Japanese colonial era. It's almost as though what makes Taiwan what it is today should all be attributed to Japanese colonization, a viewpoint with which I disagree," Wang said.
"There is no need nowadays to be hostile to the Japanese [for their encroachment upon China during World War II], but the historic lessons should be remembered by future generations."
"My husband [Tai] was worried that Lee's pro-Japanese position would have a bad influence in society, especially at a time when the younger generation seems to be so taken with Japanese culture," said Lin Tsai-mei (林彩美), attending yesterday's news conference on behalf of her late husband, who passed away on Jan 9.
The story dates back to 1970, when the three men first met and became close friends due to their common sense of duty towards society as intellectuals. But the comradeship deteriorated after 1996 when Lee became Taiwan's first democratically elected president, because of differences in their political beliefs and how they viewed history.
"Lee, Tai and myself, born into the same epoch, had much in common. We considered ourselves intellectuals and felt a strong sense of responsibility to our society. We loved Lee Teng-hui back then," said Wang.
"Yet when he proposed `special state-to-state relations' (
Wang, aged 82, told a room full of journalists that at this stage in his life, he asked nothing of the government, and that everything he said was true and rooted in his conscience.
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