The invitation to participate in the World Health Organization's (WHO) SARS conference in Kuala Lumpur should have been a great opportunity for Taiwan to show the world the results of its battle against SARS. For no reason, however, the WHO's invitation list included an extra person, PFP Legislator Kao Ming-chien (
Many people have raised suspicions regarding this PFP legislator's motives over the past few days, while the PFP hollers "unjust accusations" in retort. It even brings counter charges saying that this is a collective plot by the green camp and government officials to launch a gradual attack on Kao and the PFP by setting them up as being immoral.
We should all be able to slowly make out what the true story behind this incident really is once evidence begins to leak out and once Chinese officials begin to provide evidence. It is worth noting that the PFP time and again has stressed in public that neither it nor Kao have been driven by any motivation to harm the national interest.
In order to make us all believe that they love Taiwan in deed as well as in word, however, the people concerned should explain to the uninitiated, in no uncertain terms, whether the "Kao Ming-chien model" -- which makes a constitutional one China and the "one China" framework a precedent to the WHO -- will cause the blue camp to hurt the sovereignty of Taiwan by belittling it.
In fact, this incident should be given further collective thought by politicians. Regardless of whether they are members of the ruling or opposition parties, politicians are, in a wider sense, servants of the people, and the right to participate in political activities is bestowed upon them by the democratic system.
Therefore, even though politicians may hold different political points of view or different political ideals, they still have to fulfill the most solemn responsibilities towards this land and this great people. If politicians do not have the best for the nation or its people before their eyes, but always do their level best in the quest for powerful positions or individual interests, even mistaking an enemy nation for their own, they will, in the end, be abandoned by the public.
The fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are ruled by different governments is nothing new, but the result of the circumstances of history. Even though some of the 23 million Taiwanese arrived here earlier and some later, everyone is striving towards the same dream of the ideal home.
The problem is that China is a bully with absolutely no respect for the people that choose Taiwan, ceaselessly intriguing to take over Taiwan. To be able to deal with Taiwan, China is actively expanding its arms arsenal in an attempt at forcing Taiwan to capitulate.
The international community, however, is constantly warning China that it must not take to arms. This has caused China to change its ways and instead attempt peaceful unification while at the same time intensifying its economic war for unification against Taiwan, completely surrounding Taiwan with armed threats and economic strategies.
Leaving distant happenings to the side, Taiwan had to pay a high price for being affected by SARS because China concealed the epidemic and brought its misfortunes on others. Even at the height of the epidemic, China isolated and pressured Taiwan.
Apart from constantly using the "one China" principle to interfere with the WHO's assistance to Taiwan, Beijing also lied to the international community, claiming that it helped Taiwan fight SARS, leaving us open to the attack of the disease.
Today, the epidemic here is finally under control, and the WHO has also lifted its travel advisory. However, China played dirty tricks at the WHO's meetings by recommending that a pro-China politician help Beijing patch up its lies at the meetings.
The people of Taiwan are filled with righteous indignation over such actions. Can our politicians really pretend not to see this?
Election and opinion poll results over recent years have showed that mainstream opinion is to maintain the status quo, and constantly improve people's lives.
The SARS outbreak fully proved that the medical and health system of Taiwan far exceeds that of China -- not to mention that the personal income of the Taiwanese people is about 20 times higher that of the Chinese. How could the people of Taiwan wish to live under China's roof, where they can't even enjoy their current standard of living?
Unfortunately, some politicians, media and business people only see the economic development in certain areas of China, and covet the relatively cheap land and labor costs across the Taiwan Strait. They have pressured the government to implement its policy of "active opening," which allows them to invest in China while they insist on pulling the island closer to Beijing politically.
To be honest, such pro-China words and deeds that only take immediate profits into consideration are but a misfortune to the public that will spell disaster for our children.
The living standard in China is low. Both democracy and rule of law are absent, and human rights and freedom are not protected there. If Taiwan's economy and politics gradually lean towards China, it will become another Hong Kong -- which is rapidly sinking after the handover to China, both economically and politically, losing its past vitality due to gradual Sinicization and marginalization.
Hong Kong has already lost its glory in the six years following its being handed over to China. If Taiwan walks right into China's trap, misfortunes similar to Hong Kong's Article 23 legislation will soon arrive here.
Affected by "China fever," some Taiwanese have lost their faith in their homeland and choose to either study or work in China, believing that China is their future hope. They should really consider this issue -- China's suffers severe unemployment problems.
How much room is there for foreigners? In addition, by choosing to study and work in backward China -- rather than more advanced European countries, the US, or Japan -- what future international competitiveness will they gain?
Different politicians hold different views. This shows the opening and diversity of a democratic society.
However, this does not mean that these views can ignore this nation and its people. If the views proposed by politicians only seek to satisfy the short-term interests of a minority, or depart from our national identity, they can never gain a permanent foothold in this democratic society.
In recent years, some politicians have been selling their pro-China ideologies in the name of economic improvement. So long as we listen and think carefully, it's not difficult to understand that such ideologies do not make Taiwan and its people a priority.
The SARS outbreak once again showed us that some politicians still fantasizing about China only serve as Beijing's tools for dealing with the island.
Once Taiwan's sovereignty is gone, its people will lose their protection, and even those pro-China politicians will be abandoned by Beijing because they sold themselves and their own values.
Translated by Eddy Chang and Perry Svensson
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