President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that Taiwanese people have to be proud of the country's democratic achievements, and that those who want to unite with China by accepting the "one country, two systems" framework will cause Taiwan's democracy to regress.
Chen made the remarks while campaigning in Changhua County yesterday for the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) county commissioner candidate, Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠), reminding people of the scale and magnitude of Taiwan's democratic achievements.
Wong is seeking re-election.
Chen said yesterday that tomorrow, one day after Taiwan holds its local government elections, thousands of people in Hong Kong would participate in a demonstration against the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (香港特區基本法). For years, Hong Kong democracy activists have been demanding direct elections, so that they can choose the territory's chief executive and their lawmakers.
"Hong Kong has economic prosperity but lacks democracy. Taiwanese people can vote freely. We should be proud of this. Unfortunately, some people are unaware of this," Chen said, implying that the opposition parties' frequent contact with Beijing might eventually hurt the interests of all Taiwanese people.
"Some people want to unite Taiwan with China and accept Beijing's "`one country, two systems' mechanism. This will eventually cause democratic regression," he said.
The president said the democratic system in Taiwan gave him the chance, as an ordinary person from a poor family, to be elected the president of the country.
"I have been firmly defending Taiwan's democracy and sovereignty for a long time. I will keep doing this to prevent Taiwan from becoming part of China," Chen said.
In an interview with a local cable station on Thursday, Chen reiterated that the implementation of the three-links between Hong Kong and China did not lead to prosperity for the territory.
"Please be clever enough to ditch fancy ideas over Taiwan's prosperity being linked to the implementation of direct links with China. Taiwan has to hold national security above commercial interests," he said during the interview.
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