Taiwan would hold a plebiscite on the nation's status only to change from an independent sovereignty to "one country, two systems," Premier Yu Shyi-kun said on Monday.
"Even parents have to respect the wishes of their children in terms of whether they want to get married, when they want to get married and who they want to get married to," Yu said.
PHOTO: CNA
"We have to respect the wishes of the Taiwanese people regarding who they want to unite with and whether they want to unite."
Only the nation's 23 million people -- not any other country, individual or party -- have the right to decide the future of Taiwan, Yu added.
"What China is doing right now is acting like a whale of a man holding a beautiful lady at gunpoint, demanding her to get married and use his last name," Yu said.
"China has 400 missiles targeting Taiwan and doesn't rule out the use of military force against Taiwan. That exacerbates already tense relations across the Taiwan Strait."
Yu made the remarks during an interview with the Costa Rican media on Monday.
Yu also said that there was still a long way to go for Taiwan to become a genuine democratic country.
"Although Taiwan has democratized over the years, it's a quasi-democracy and it shall take time to evolve and mature into a genuine democracy," Yu said.
Yu also called on China to become democratized as soon as possible. "I hope the 1.3 billion Chinese people will enjoy democracy, freedom and human rights just as we do," he said.
In addition to cross-strait relations, Yu also told Costa Rican media that Taiwan will donate US$15 million to help build the US$50 million, 40km San Carlos highway in addition to a US$35 million loan Taiwan is providing.
"We started to discuss the project in 1996 during Lee Teng-hui's (
The construction project will be carried out by Taiwan's Retired Servicemen Engineering Agency. Once completed, it is expected to help make the transportation of agricultural goods in northern Costa Rica more convenient and boost tourism.
In addition to the project, Taiwan has funded and built other infrastructure projects including the Puntarenas pier and the Bridge of Taiwan Friendship.
The NT$15 million Puntarenas project, completed in October 1999, was constructed to improve Puntarenas City's local economy and boost its tourism industry.
Construction of the US$27 million bridge project began in July 2000 and is expected to be completed by October.
Once completed, it is expected to reduce travel time from the capital of San Jose to Nicoya from two hours to 90 minutes by car.
The agricultural mission also offers agricultural technology assistance and training programs.
"All these cooperation programs have been carried out as planned. Some of them have already been completed and some are still in the work," Yu said.
When asked why the Taiwan government is so generous in offering assistance, Yu said the reason is simple.
"Because we share the same universal values of freedom, democracy, human rights and peace," Yu said. "In addition, we'd like to give back to the international community for what they've done for us."
Yu concluded his stay in Costa Rica with a visit with President Abel Pacheco and Rolando Lacle, president of the Legislative Assembly, Monday afternoon. He arrived at Belize at around 6pm Monday afternoon.
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