The red-carpet treatment that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) will receive in Beijing will be nothing more than window dressing by the Chinese Communists as a "united front" against Taiwan, democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) said on Saturday.
Wang, a leader of the pro-democracy student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989, said that another reason that China will be falling over itself to embrace the KMT delegation is to curry favor with Washington, which has long advocated that cross-strait issues be resolved peacefully or via dialogue.
In a speech delivered to a group of overseas Chinese in Los Angeles, Wang suggested that Lien, who is scheduled to embark on his self-styled "journey of peace" to China tomorrow, should make it clear to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) that change must come to the China's political regime, including democratization and freedom of speech. Lien must also speak on behalf of Taiwan to protect Taiwan's long-term interests, he said.
Wang, a Harvard University doctoral candidate who is currently on a research project on the West Coast, said that even if the KMT chairman signs an agreement with his Beijing hosts, it would be "just rubbish," given the true colors of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Noting that every written accord that the KMT and the CCP reached in the past ended up in the trash can of history, Wang, a history major at Peking University before the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, said that the CCP is untrustworthy and not interested in matters that only benefit others.
Wang, the founder of the Chinese Constitutional Reform Association in the US, has visited Taiwan many times since his visit trip in March 1999. He was in Taipei in January 2003 to launch his two new books written in Chinese -- one a collection of poems and the other a work of prose -- both published by Taipei's Locus Publishing Co.
He was in Taipei again in July 2003 for six weeks at the invitation of the Taipei City Government as an artist-in-residence.
Wang was jailed in July 1989 for his part in the pro-democracy demonstration and was released in February 1993. He was arrested again in October 1996 and sentenced to a further 11-year prison term.
In April 1998, he was released on parole on medical grounds and permitted to travel to the US for treatment -- a move that effectively sent him into exile.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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