Wed, Jun 30, 2004 page8

• Letters

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  Democracy for China now

  For most people who live in civilized societies, it is very difficult to understand the persistent threats from China against the Taiwanese government.

  For the 1.3 billion Chinese, who do not own any property in Taiwan and do not have any voting rights, to claim Taiwan as their territory is also beyond comprehension. Moreover, for those Chinese who have never set foot in Taiwan to claim the right to rule over the Taiwanese merely due to similar ethnicity is not acceptable, not only in Taiwan but also around the world.

  Many Taiwanese have in the past believed that the regimes from China would eliminate

  the oppressive occupations of

  foreign powers. Instead, their fellow ethnic Chinese have invariably persecuted Taiwanese far worse than the foreigners. The most recent example

  is the Chinese Nationalist

  Party (KMT), which treated Taiwanese as second-class

  citizens. Within two years of

  its arrival, the regime created shameful and rampant corruption that sparked a civilian

  uprising; then it liquidated the finest of Taiwan's intellectuals who tried their best to assist the regime in ending the chaos.

  The fact that they were lured into brutal executions by deception torments all Taiwanese, even after more than half a century. Four decades of suffocating repression -- Taiwan endured the world's longest martial-law regime -- followed that heinous atrocity.

  Despite generations of

  traumatic experiences, many Taiwanese still support the KMT in local and national elections. Many Taiwanese businesspeople also invest heavily in China, attesting to the strong affinity of some Taiwanese toward China. However, China's persistent military threats and its policy of isolating Taiwan reinforces the past's unbearable sufferings. Once again Taiwanese are demoted to second-class citizens and deprived of human dignity by China. In this sad historical context, Taiwanese are now

  reluctantly distancing themselves from China, and they

  believe that the current Chinese regime will do more harm to them than the KMT.

  Nevertheless, many Taiwanese still earnestly hope that one day China will become a democracy. Then the conflict across the Taiwan Strait will

  be solved within a mutually

  acceptable system. Such a day is not near, as autonomy for Tibet and democracy in Hong Kong and China are losing ground, not to mention the worsening suppression of religious freedom and persecution of Falun Gong followers.

  We entreat all Chinese officials to consider that it is to their own advantage to embrace democracy. In the current system, not a single individual will be protected from authoritarian rule. Many of your prominent predecessors suffered such a sad fate in the past. Sacrificing lives to achieve unification is outdated in modern society.

  Please accept democracy now! It is just a simple change of attitude. Then you and your families as well as 1.3 billion Chinese will enjoy peaceful and civilized lives. The problems of Hong Kong, Taiwan, religions and Falun Gong will become irrelevant. You will gladly accept Taiwan independence and complete autonomy for Tibet and Hong Kong. His Holiness the Dalai Lama will happily return to Tibet and rejoice with all Tibetans for the restoration of their treasured culture. You will be the savior of not only China but also the entire world. Your past mistakes in sacrificing millions of innocent people in the name of communism and nationalism will be forgiven. You will bathe in the triumph of decency with ethnic Chinese around the globe.

  Ming Chang, Albert Chen,

  Ting Chen, Chi Su, Thomas Tsai and Samuel Yang

  United States

  Just who voided the ballots?

  Thanks to Lee Chang-kuei (李長貴) for his article ("The KMT must ditch Lien, merger plan," June 25, page 9), which helps people understand what has happened in Taipei in recent months and why the Taiwanese are struggling to be rid of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) control.

  I agree with the article except for Lee's contention that "the unusually high number of invalid ballots ... was caused by the newly adopted stricter criteria of validity, introduced to frustrate vote buying."

  We know that these criteria had in fact been strongly manipulated by the KMT well before the election. It wasn't designed to frustrate vote buying, but was a trick to eliminate formerly valid ballots supporting the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The KMT knew from experience that many DPP supporters were illiterate or aged people who would identify their choice not by the name or the number printed on the ballot but by the picture of the candidate. These voters would simply and innocently place a stamp on the picture -- and it would be counted as valid.

  But this was not the case at this year's presidential election.

  Around 300,000 invalid ballots were identified in the election -- so the trick worked as the KMT hoped. Yet the pan-blue camp filed a lawsuit demanding a recount because of the large number of invalid ballots.

  As the saying goes, "He who plays tricks must be prepared to take a joke."

  Janet Chang

  Chiayi
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