Sovereignty takes a hit
Freedom ends not with a bang, but a whimper. This could be the fate of Taiwan’s independence if the current administration continues its apparent course of refining the definition of bilateral talks between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
With the recent comments by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) supports not only the notion of “one country, two areas” (一國兩區), but also views the relationship between the two as “special,” as opposed to “state-to-state,” the Taiwanese government has clearly resigned itself to playing the role of something other than a state-to-state actor in the ongoing negotiations between the two countries.
In doing so, Taiwan has relegated itself to little more than an area that is ultimately subject to PRC authority and oversight, in much the way that Kurdistan is viewed within Iraq, or the Basque region of Spain and Russian region of Chechnya are viewed; trouble-making regions of a greater sovereign state.
The ability of Taiwan to negotiate as an equal with the PRC has been greatly diminished, not only in a bilateral sense, but in the eyes of the world as well.
If Taiwan itself does not assert its independence from the PRC, then it should not be surprised when other states prove lukewarm about the cause.
Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state, as well as its ability to negotiate on an equal footing with the PRC, have been severely undermined by the current government and it is a sad day for both democracy and Taiwanese.
Brian Benedictus
Washington
Seeking justice
A recent story “Food additive firm owner sentenced to 13 years in jail,” (March 21, page 2”) left readers with a concerning lack of finality.
Although justice appears to have been done in the case of suppliers of these toxic chemicals, nothing is mentioned about ongoing prosecutions of the executives and corporations who actually put these poisons into our food.
We would all feel more assured if we thought that the chief executive of Uni--President International and others of his ilk were about to the see the inside of a jail cell.
Is this about to happen? Tomorrow? Next week? Or never?
John Hanna
Taoyuan
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