Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) should not to push Taiwan to the brink of war with remarks that could provoke China, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) said yesterday.
Su has made provocative remarks, Chen said in a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, referring to the premier last month answering a question by KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) by saying that he would defend the nation to the end, even if he were armed only with a broom.
While Su’s comments were likely aimed at boosting the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) morale in the run-up to next year’s presidential and legislative elections, they were nonetheless dangerous, as they could push the nation to the brink of war, Chen said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Su denied that his remarks were motivated by the elections, saying that they were a response to a Jan. 2 call for unification by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who said that China has not renounced the use of force against Taiwan.
Chen then played a video showing US soldiers going to war, children and anti-war content.
At one point, the video says: “If you love war, it is only because you have never been in one,” a concept Chen apparently attempted to connect to Su.
Su said that it is precisely because he resists war that he is prepared for one at all times.
He said that he would never seek out war, but his resolve to defend the nation is as firm as that of then-British prime minister Winston Churchill to defend the UK from Germany.
Chen then asked the premier how many Taiwanese, if any, would actually fight in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Su said that if the KMT had adopted Chen’s tone, it would have surrendered during the 823 Artillery Bombardment — also known as the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis — that started on Aug. 23, 1958, and the nation would have perished.
Chen said that he has often wondered why the two sides of the Taiwan Strait do not “sit down and talk,” adding that cross-strait negotiations are “unavoidable.”
He called on the DPP to renounce the parts of its charter advocating Taiwanese independence, saying that Beijing would never approve.
“If Taiwan is not an independent nation, how could you serve as legislator? How could I serve as premier?” Su said.
Noting that Chen often visits China, Su asked whether he had ever mentioned the Republic of China while there.
“Yes, I have mentioned it ... in private,” Chen said.
The two sides of the Taiwan Strait should work out a solution to resolve the standoff, he said.
“Do you want to surrender, or what?” Su asked.
“If you are not going to surrender, that makes two of us,” he added.
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