Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said Taiwan needs to enlarge its civil society in order to cultivate a public that has the self-determination to build its own nation.
Lee made the remarks at the ceremony to mark the establishment of the Taiwan Association of Civil Society, a non-profit private organization founded by a group of university professors and young academics to promote the public's civil awareness and Taiwan's national identity.
Lee said that Taiwanese people were deprived of the right to self-governance during the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime's decades of authoritarian rule and therefore Taiwan has been slow to form a civil and democratic society.
"Many Taiwanese people were born with the belief that they were destined to be subjected to other people's ruling," Lee said. "Actually, there should be no such a thing. People are the most important element in composing a country. However, now in Taiwan, the phenomenon that people are the subjects of feudal rulers still exists.
"Such is the lack of the people's civil awareness," Lee said.
In his speech, Lee told young people to think for themselves and abandon the hackneyed slavish ideology to build Taiwan into a normal and independent country.
In related news, China condemned Taiwan's top leaders yesterday for "preaching separatism" and denounced their efforts toward a new constitution and a law allowing referendums, a move some say could produce a vote on the nation's independence.
An unidentified spokesman for the Chinese Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs office issued the comments through the official Xinhua News Agency and singled out President Chen Shui-bian (
"Chen Shui-bian is preaching separatism and is trying to carry out his separatist activities by making use of this referendum," the spokesman said.
The Chinese spokesman added: "The separatist activities by Taiwanese independence elements directly endangers the basic interests of Taiwanese compatriots, and it is a disaster for Taiwan.
"Activities like this cannot be tolerated by the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation," the spokesman said.
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
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HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers