China cool on Chen's invitation to Hu

Lien even echoed China's nationalist rhetoric, saying that he supported "allying with the CCP to strike Taiwan," which fundamentally ignored the Taiwanese people's right to choose their future freely, Su said.

"Moreover, the five-point consensus reached during the Lien-Hu meeting was established on the assumption that Taiwan's sovereignty can be conceded," Su said. According to Lien and Hu's consensus, Taiwan has to obtain Beijing's consent afterward if it wants to join international organizations, he added.

The DPP also warned that the two pandas that China is going to give to Taiwan are tools to degrade Taiwan's sovereignty. What China should do is to destroy the numerous missiles targeted at Taiwan and repeal the "Anti-Secession" Law, Su said.

Meanwhile, when asked for her opinion about China's pandas, Vice President Annette Lu said that she would welcome the Chinese pandas if they were presents celebrating the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC).

It's time for Lien to come clean

Last night, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan returned to Taiwan from China. His visit reveals that the idea of "China" is embedded in his political genes, and it has led to a highly charged response from the Taiwanese public, who either love or detest him for it. They have made their feelings clear through demonstrations of support and protest during his departure and his return.

And when Lien and Chinese President Hu Jintao shook hands, symbolizing the end of animosity between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it also resulted in an intensification of conflict between the pan-green and pan-blue camps.

In the past the pan-blue camp only flirted with China. Now, Lien's visit has brought the relationship to a more substantial level. The KMT has direct contact with the CCP and has established a platform for party-to-party relations.

This is bitterly ironic. The Presidential Office is only half a kilometer from KMT headquarters. Yet the KMT and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have failed to establish a platform for party-to-party relations in the five years of Chen Shui-bian's presidency. Lien has only met with Chen once and spoken with him once on the telephone.

The Lien-Hu memorandum says that the two sides should establish a military confidence-building mechanism. This is little more than hot air, given that the KMT and the DPP have failed to agree on basic military matters. As a result of a pan-blue boycott, the arms-procurement bill has languished in the legislature for years. Before confidence-building mechanisms can be put in place, it is first necessary to establish military stability across the Taiwan Strait. If the military disparity is too wide, putting our cards on the table will only invite China to use force.

The top priority therefore is to monitor the military situation through international inspections. This is the only way to achieve peace. Preaching peace with a hostile nation without building a force sufficient to repel an invasion is empty talk.

During his trip, Lien said that he, his family and his party had historical links with China. We want to remind him that he only spent 10 years in China as a child, and that it was his 60-year career in Taiwan that gave him affluence and influence. The KMT existed in Taiwan is much longer than its history in mainland. In Taiwan, it has a 60-year history. Lien's desire, like his party, to indulge in nostalgia is understandable, but regardless of any connection Lien and his party have with China, his actions should give absolute priority to the Taiwanese people.

Lien's trip has succeeded in cementing a place, however small, in China's history. It has also generated reasonable suspicion that he is preparing to act treacherously against Taiwan. On his return, Lien should present Chen with a report on his trip. He should also instruct the KMT legislative caucus to end its boycott of the arms-procurement budget. This will help repair the damage he has done to his image among Taiwanese people.

Lien must show that domestic stability is on his agenda, otherwise he will have demonstrated that Taiwan's basic interests do not coincide with his own.

The tragic farce of Lien Chan

By William Wolfe

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan must be auditioning for a new career as a comedian. How else to explain his assertion in Beijing that recent "reforms" in China have closed the political gap between China and Taiwan? He must have had the audience rolling in the aisles.

Sadly, there's nothing funny about Lien's misguided attempt to submerge ongoing democratic efforts here in Taiwan. His visit to Beijing is an embarrassment to anyone who believes in democracy.

It's also an embarrassment -- or should be -- to the KMT and its supporters. This visit signals the KMT's unwillingness to accept its role as the current "other" party in Taiwanese politics. It also signals a serious misunderstanding of the workings of the democratic process.

When a party loses an election, it bides its time until the next cycle of elections comes around. In the meantime, it shores up its weaknesses and sorts out its message for the next election. It solidifies its base and recruits new members. With luck and hard work, it comes out on top and gets its people in office. That's what it should take to get what you want in a democracy.

But what Lien is doing is thumbing his nose at the process. The KMT's actions in this instance have done nothing more than signal to China that if it comes here on the military march, there are leaders ready to bend over and take whatever China offers by way of policy for its newest "province."

Lien's visit to Beijing has an uglier, potentially more dangerous message than that one, however. By visiting China, he has also implied to KMT supporters here in Taiwan that it is acceptable for them to turn their backs on democracy if it doesn't give them what they want, when they want it. His visit tells his party's supporters that when they lose elections, they need not worry. There's no political problem here that a few pucker-up-and-kiss missions to Beijing won't solve.

Looking for irony in Lien's visit is an easy task. He offered up yet another knee-slapper to an audience at Peking University when he said, "We can't stay in the past forever." How did they contain their laughter?

By resorting to dirty, backdoor politics, it's Lien who is resorting to old methods. Admittedly, Taiwan's democracy is young and still forming, but President Chen Shui-bian was fairly and democratically elected by a majority of citizens in a society that has moved on from the days of one-party, totalitarian rule. It's just a shame that a man like Lien, whose party just can't seem to tolerate the ups and downs of democratic life, has so quickly and sadly dragged that same society back into a past that no one is interested in reliving.

William Wolfe

Lungtan

Lien bows to Beijing

By Gandalf Liu

It's unbelievable that KMT Chairman Lien Chan urged his Peking University audience to unite against Taiwanese independence for all the world to see. Living on a democratic and self-ruled island, we can accept different voices, but how sad it is to see an outside power involving itself in our domestic affairs, especially with the help of our biggest opposition party.

What did Lien mean? He has run twice for the KMT in presidential elections, but now he denies that Taiwan is an independent country. What was the name of the post he ran for?

Lien still enjoys a number of ongoing perks from his vice presidency, including a generous "salary" totaling over NT$400,000 per month, paid for by the 23 million people living on Taiwan, Kinmen and Matsu. His "retirement salary" is even higher than that of President Chen Shui-bian.

He claims that his role is a civil one, and not that of a former vice president for this visit. But the talks in China included political issues. Is this a civil role? What he says he is doing and what he is really doing are different things. He has lied too much already.

On March 14, China passed the "Anti-Secession" Law, further threatening cross-strait peace. Hundreds of thousands of people in Taiwan protested the law on March 26. A number of countries also applied pressure on China. But where was the KMT? What did it have to say?

Most democratic countries support Taiwan over this matter. But the KMT echoed communist China. How extraordinarily democratic Taiwan is: It allows an opposition party leader to seek outside assistance to manipulate domestic affairs.

This is a farcical situation, and one that will impact heavily on the nation. But many news reports call Lien's visit a "historic" trip. People are brainwashed.

So, are you clear about what's going on? Then say something! Stand up, and let the world understand our true voice.

Gandalf Liu

Taiwan

Selling out the people

By Chen Ming-chung

Opposing Taiwanese independence is a front for opposing Taiwanese freedom of choice. The whole world knows this -- except for KMT Chairman Lien Chan and his followers, as their reaction to the "Anti-Secession" Law showed. The pan-blue camp said the law targeted Taiwanese independence supporters, and therefore refused to participate in the protest on March 26, which, like Lien's trip, confused KMT followers and the world.

Peace without dignity or freedom is what the pan-blue camp protested for at CKS International Airport. But Lien and his supporters will never speak the truth about how they intend to bring about this "peace."

If "peace" is all the KMT wants, then former president Chiang Kai-shek could have secured it decades ago. But Lien is trying to say that today's Chinese Communist Party is different to before.

The world knows, however, that the only difference in the communists today is that they are richer and stronger.

The number of people who protested the trip at the airport compared with those who supported it, according to police reports, was about 3,000 to 900, roughly the same ratio of those think the trip will sell out Taiwan against those who would want "peace" at the expense of freedom and democracy.

The most objectionable thing about the airport scuffle was the presence of organized-crime gangs, like at every other pan-blue gathering, and their attacks on pan-green camp members, and Taiwanese independence supporters in particular. These thugs have not been punished, and were not even challenged by the authorities or the police on the scene. Watching these cowards gang up on the elderly and beat isolated pan-green camp supporters was sickening.

Unless Lien states clearly that he supports freedom of choice for Taiwanese people, he will go down in history as selling out Taiwan, selling out freedom, selling out democracy as well as selling out the hope of Chinese who yearn for democracy and freedom.

Chen Ming-chung

Chicago, Illinois

Better Sino-Japanese ties in Taiwan's interest

By Li Ming-juinn

Following the recent spate of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China targeting Japanese firms and representative offices in various cities, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing not only refused to offer any apology or compensation, but said that Japan had provoked the situation by hurting China's feelings through revisions of textbooks and its stance on Taiwan.

In a meeting between Li and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on April 17 in Beijing, relations were so strained that the two men refused to shake hands. Japan's invitation to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to visit the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, meanwhile, met with a curt refusal. All of this has created considerable dissatisfaction among the Japanese.

But the Japanese government is taking a low-key approach to resolving these tensions. In the Asian and African leaders' summit on April 23 in Jakarta, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi unexpectedly made a public apology for Japan's colonial expansion and the suffering it caused to countries in Asia. The apology is significant, as it comes at a time when Japan is faced with conflicts with China and South Korea over historical wrongs. Koizumi's move was apparently driven by the heightened tension in Sino-Japanese relations, but such a move will put the government under significant pressure from the public.

Japan is well aware that international peace is a prerequisite for continued economic development. During his speech at the Asian and African leaders' summit, Koizumi also gave assurances that Japan had no intention of becoming a militaristic nation, and that it was committed to finding peaceful solutions to problems. He also brought up the issues of substantial aid for economic development and international cooperation to make clear to the international community that Japan was going to continue along its path of peaceful economic development.

At the same time, the Japanese government accepted the Chinese suggestion that the two nations discuss the joint development of natural energy resources in the East China Sea. Further, not one member of Koizumi's Cabinet was among the group of Japanese lawmakers -- of all party affiliations -- who attended the recent spring visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Japan is clearly trying to heal the diplomatic rift between the two nations to secure China's support for its bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

After a bit of posturing on the part of China, Chinese President Hu Jintao finally agreed to a meeting with Koizumi in Jakarta. Speaking on trade relations between China and Japan, Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai pointed out that Japanese businesses in China were making a significant contribution to jobs, tax revenue and economic development. Bo expressed the hope that the protests would have no adverse effect on trade relations between the two countries, and that Chinese consumers would not boycott Japanese products.

On top of this, Chinese officials expressed concern that the anti-Japanese sentiment could spin out of control, especially during the long weekend at the beginning of this month, coupled with the anniversary of the May 4th Movement. China is worried that the recent wave of anti-Japanese feeling will pose a threat to social stability and influence trade relations with Japan, and so the leadership is attempting to defuse the situation.

Hu has said he wants stable conditions for reform, the maintenance of social stability, peaceful development and diplomatic relations, and the creation of a favorable international environment.

In an attempt to deal with the Chinese netizens who have organized the protests over the Internet, a police spokesman announced in the sternest terms that any rallies that have not applied for and received permission, or any events organized through the Internet or text messages, will be illegal. Anyone posting comments on the Internet will be taken to court, and a number of well-known patriotic, anti-Japanese Web sites have been shut down. Clearly, Chinese officials are anxious to ensure that the situation doesn't get out of hand.

In the past, as a result of a cold-war mentality, Taiwan has been happy to see confrontations arise between China and the US or other nations, hoping that such events could be exploited. However, if we wish to see a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question, we must hope that this Northeast Asian conflagration will not continue.

The international community must oppose the use of military force in solving disputes to ensure world peace and prosperity. This is the best way to make ourselves heard on the international stage.

Li Ming-juinn is an assistant research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.