In response to the hotly contested issue of Taiwan's sovereignty, former president Lee Tung-hui (
"Taking a retrospective look at Taiwan's history, it is undeniable that Taiwan was taken by Allied forces when World War II came to an end," Lee said in a closing address at the Symposium on a New Constitution for Taiwan organized by Taiwan Advocates yesterday.
"The [Chinese] Nationalist government took over Taiwan under the orders of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, Douglas MacArthur," Lee said.
The key question, Lee said, is how Taiwan should be positioned after the military occupation.
"Despite some asserting a theory of an undefined status or championing a self-initiated legalization of the Nationalist government since no objection was raised at that time, others also contend that the military occupation has never ended," Lee said.
"Another argument is that since the war ended and the military occupation lost its efficacy, the sovereignty of Taiwan should be returned to the hands of Taiwanese," Lee said.
Lee also made an impassioned plea to the global community not to brush aside the war-era problem.
"Taiwan's disputed status has seriously hindered Taiwan's development and restrained the right of the Taiwanese people to pursue a free, democratic country," Lee said. "Half a century on, the international community should no longer allow the remnants of World War II to obstruct the survival of a democratic and economically free nation."
Taiwan's disputed status as a result of World War II has serious repercussions for the region, he said. "The world should not allow this unsolved problem to jeopardize the stability and peace of Asia," Lee said.
This remnant of the war-time conflict is a serious question facing the entire world, he said.
"The world should not look on unconcerned at the Taiwan problem, letting a country of peace-loving people be bullied by hegemonic powers and watch as the Taiwanese are unable to establish their own nation," Lee said.
According to Lee, only by granting Taiwanese the right to establish an independent country could the risk factor in the Asia-Pacific region be erased.
Echoing statements by President Chen Shui-bian (
"The Republic of China [ROC] no longer exists," Lee said,"It'd be useless no matter how we try to fix the ROC constitution."
Other scholars at the seminar also stressed the urgency need to write a new constitution instead of making constitutional revisions.
Eugene Sullivan, a former federal judge in the US, said that Taiwan should rebuild a solid, new foundation for its democracy by drafting a new constitution. "Taiwan's democracy is like a house whose foundation is the ROC Constitution adopted in 1947. The foundation is weakened by defects although you tried to patch it up," Sullivan said.
Sounding a similar note, the Chinese dissident writer Cao Chingqing (
"Revising the old constitution is to accept the ROC framework. In that framework, Taiwan is deemed a continuation from the 1949 civil war," Cao said, "Only through a new constitution can people establish an identity of their own."
"Taiwan is moving from a de facto country to a de jure country," said Lee Hong-hsi (
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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