Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Friday in New York that the visits to China by two opposition leaders did not benefit Taiwan as Beijing is continuing its relentless campaign to marginalize Taiwan in the international community.
Su made the remarks to Chinese-language media after winding up a nine-day visit to the US.
Su noted that after China enacted its "Anti-Secession" Law on March 14 that authorizes the use of force against Taiwan should it move toward formal independence, an estimated 1 million people on Taiwan took to the streets to vent their displeasure with the law.
The international community also frowned on the legislation, he said.
Then, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) visited China in April and May, respectively, at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Pressure
China was actually trying to deflect the tremendous pressure that was coming to bear after the enactment of the legislation, Su said, adding that it wanted to prove to the international community that cross-strait exchanges were continuing and that the people of Taiwan were not opposed to the law.
Beijing is adopting a two-pronged approach toward Taiwan, he said. It is acting as if it embraces contact with Taiwan, while cutting it off from international participation, such as not allowing Taiwan to attend the post-tsunami conference and blocking its observership in the World Health Organization's (WHO) Assembly -- the same behavior as prior to the two opposition politicians' visits to China, he said.
US advice
He advised China's authorities to heed US President George W. Bush's June 5 advice when he urged Beijing to talk directly with the duly elected leader in Taiwan, and not just communicate with opposition leaders.
On the upcoming KMT chairmanship election on July 16, Su said he hoped that the new leader of the nearly 110-year-old party could be elected under a democratic system, that the KMT would serve as a loyal opposition party and that its exchanges with the DPP would be rational and based on mutual respect.
Su, who took over the helm of the DPP in February, first visited San Francisco, where he addressed a meeting of an ethnic Taiwanese medical doctors' association. Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), a co-winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in chemistry, also attended the meeting.
Democracy talk
Su then traveled to Washington where he talked about Taiwan's democratic experience in a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.
He also met with US congressional leaders and other political figures, but wouldn't divulge details, saying only that Taiwan has to work harder so that it will be able to stand firm internationally.
Private affairs
Su also visited Boston and New York to meet with think tank academics and Taiwanese community leaders, as well as taking care of some private affairs, including his eldest daughter's enrollment in a graduate school in Boston.
During his stay in New York, Su watched a New York Yankees game in which Taiwan-born pitcher Wang Chien-min (王建民) was starting.
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