Comparing Beijing's oppression of Taiwan to a villain holding a man at gunpoint, President Chen Shui-bian (
"The way China treats us is like a man holding a gun with one hand and shoving us into a corner with the other," he said. "He seizes us by the throat and tells us not to breathe. What do you think we should do?"
Taiwan must not give up, Chen said, adding that the nation's 23 million citizens will not surrender without putting up a fight.
China cannot expect Taiwanese to feel an affinity for an authoritarian regime that relies on tactics of military intimidation and diplomatic suppression, he said.
Chen made the remarks while receiving a US delegation of Republican elite at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
Chen told the foreign guests that cross-strait relations were unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future as the public would not abandon the nation's sovereignty.
While Beijing considers Taiwan a province, the Taiwanese will never accept or agree to Beijing's demand that Taiwan relinquish its sovereignty like Hong Kong or Macau, Chen said.
"Such fundamental differences make it very difficult for both sides to establish a new political relationship," Chen said.
Next year's presidential election will be crucial, Chen said, as the nation has arrived at a crossroads.
The public must elect leaders who will lead the nation on the correct path, guided by Taiwan-centric principles, and shun those who embrace surrender by propagating for a "greater China," he said.
The election will also be a battle between those who believe in Taiwan and have a positive vision for the nation's future, and those who have no confidence in Taiwan and take a negative view of its prospects.
On the issue of Taiwan-US relations, Chen called on Washington to review its policies concerning Taipei, adding that its attitude toward Taiwanese democracy is a crucial factor in determining the nature of future relations between the two countries.
"There is a blind spot in Taiwan-US relations. There is a line there and we don't know how to deal with it yet," Chen said. "We are caught in a dilemma. We don't know whether we should continue down the road of democracy, or stop right here and turn back."
While the US government and US President George W. Bush have repeatedly praised Taiwan's democratic reforms as a success story, Chen said it is impossible to enjoy democracy with inhibition.
Taiwan's future and the direction of cross-strait relations must be decided via the most democratic means -- a referendum, he said.
"But the US government sees it differently," Chen said. "The US government must review and reconsider this key issue if it wants to see its relations with Taiwan develop in a sound direction."
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but