In his Chiayi speech, Chen defended Lin against a week of attacks by lawmakers over the high bonus that he received, saying that Lin deserved the reward because China Steel had successfully changed from a public-owned company into a private enterprise.

"Look at what Lien says about his unreasonably large pension, which he says he's due. Now look back at what Ma said -- can this possibly be a deserved pension?" he asked.

Chen said that Lien's pension was even higher than his salary and that the size of the pension was an "evil practice" left over from the party-state run by the KMT.

"To bring about a society that enjoys true fairness and justice, I ask you to support the government's plan for reforming the preferential interest rates of up to 18 percent for public servants," he said.

Chen said that if the government succeeds in implementing the reform, the treasury would save at least NT$19 billion. He emphasized that the money would not be used to purchase weapons.

"I will use the money to take care of minority groups and I will increase subsidies for aged farmers from NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 per month," he said.

Chen also criticized Ma's handling of the KMT's stolen assets, accusing Ma of misleading people into thinking he would return them to the public, whereas in reality he was selling them off them gradually on the quiet. Chen asked the public to support the passage of a bill that would prevent the assets from being unloaded elsewhere.

"I also urge Ma not to order KMT lawmakers to boycott the government's reforms," he said.

Chen will hold around 35 truck rallies during his campaign. Today, he heads for Hualien County, Taichung County and Taichung City.

Experts criticize China's sham democracy paper

THINK TANK: Academics roundly panned the recently published white paper for showing that China doesn't really understand the meaning of democracy at all

By Chang Yun-ping

STAFF REPORTER

"It is wrong to have any hope of Hu [Jintao] making political reforms in China."－Ming Chu-cheng, NTU professor

China's first white paper on democracy, published last Wednesday, was nothing more than "propaganda," and it actually tells the international community to stop daydreaming about democracy in China, officials and analysts said yesterday.

A private forum held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) affiliated Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, discussed the recently published white paper, China analysts said the propaganda-style white paper revealed how little the Chinese authorities know about democracy, as it insisted on making a distinction between Western style democracy and that practiced in China.

The 74-page white paper, entitled Building of Political Democracy in China emphasized China's insistence on developing its own system of democracy as "the situations differ from one country to another, the paths the people of different countries take to win and develop democracy are different." The paper said that China's path is one of "socialist democracy with its own characteristics," which has "realized the Chinese people's demand to be masters of their own country."

MOFA Spokesperson Michel Lu yesterday said "the white paper is merely a piece of propaganda. It reflects its intention to create a theory on democracy to justify the demands from the outside world to open up to political democracy," the ministry spokesman said.

Ruan Ming, a national policy adviser to the president said during the forum, "China's democracy white paper is actually very offensive in the sense that it tells the international community, which still hold hopes for democracy in China, to stop dreaming of such an idea."

Ruan said China's purpose in issuing the white paper is to strengthen Chinese President Hu Jintao's ambition to become a hegemon.

Ming Chu-cheng, a National Taiwan University political science professor specializing in Chinese politics from analyzed Hu's rise to power, saying Hu was actually handpicked by the late CCP leader Deng Xiaoping as an alternative successor to him because initially Deng did not fully trust Jiang Zemin.

"The reason Hu found it possible to make his way to the top is because he has shown he has the nerve to kill people," Ming said, referring to Hu's record of ordering numerous bloody suppressions of Tibetans and Chinese dissidents.

"It is wrong to have any hope of Hu carrying out political reforms in China," Ming said, adding that the kind of democratic definition China claims in line with its own national and social characteristics is not true democracy at all.

Tung Li-wen, director of the Democratic Progressive Party's International Affairs Department, said the white paper revealed the worrying tendency that political reform in China is likely to be postponed, as well as beijing's attempt to build up of an "anti-democracy" discourse in the country.

US analysts, officials worry about China's military rise

`ANTI-ACCESS': Although US leaders may visit China, they are only allowed limited access, and are concerned that the US is clearly considered the hypothetical enemy

AFP , WASHINGTON

"You have this disconnect between what China says it's doing and what it's actually doing." － Dan Blumenthal, former senior director for China and Taiwan in the US secretary of defense's office

China is doing little to ease concerns over its rapid military buildup which is threatening US dominance in a wide range of areas, from Asian sea lanes to outer space, US experts said on Friday.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld went on a maiden trip this week to Beijing to directly express US worries over China's growing military power, but the experts felt the assurances he received had failed to lift long-held suspicions.

While Chinese leaders allowed an unprecedented visit for Rumsfeld to the Strategic Rocket Forces headquarters in Beijing, he was not be allowed into the national military command center, the Chinese version of the Pentagon.

"The Chinese in their own context made a small step forward, but in reality there is no indication they are ready to embark on a new era of military transparency in the American or European sense," said Richard Fisher of the US-based International Assessment and Strategy Center.

"Not only can Chinese nuclear missiles now target the continental United States, the whole configuration of the new Chinese force is clearly designed with the United States as the hypothetical enemy," Fisher said.

Randall Schriver, a senior State Department official who was in charge of East Asian policy until early this year, said that "the core issue of our concerns over China's military buildup and its transparency remains unresolved," despite Rumsfeld's rare trip.

While the US defense chief has maintained Beijing's military expenditure was two to three times greater than publicly acknowledged, his Chinese counterpart, Cao Guangchuan, denied any understatement of military spending.

Specific concerns about the lack of transparency in China's military budget and capability were also not addressed, including the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles that can hit US airbases.

Some experts believe China will develop a world-class defense industry within the next 10 to 15 years and seeks to replace the US as the preeminent power in the Pacific -- even globally. By some estimates, China now has the world's third-largest defense budget, after the US and Russia, spending from US$70 billion to US$90 billion per year. But China says defense spending would be just US$30 billion this year.

"I think it was good for the Chinese to hear directly from the secretary of defense as he actually in many ways was speaking for more than the United States," said Peter Brookes, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defense.

"There are concerns about the transparency of China's military budget and its growth from others in the region who are nervous as well, including Japan, Taiwan and even Southeast Asia, but reluctant to speak up about it," he said.

China argues its military budget is dwarfed by US spending, which last year totaled US$440 billion, and that its preoccupation is to lift living standards of the poor.

"But what you are seeing are capabilities to, in fact, deny the United States from projecting power in the region," said Dan Blumenthal, a former senior director for China and Taiwan in the US Secretary of Defense's office.

"So you have this disconnect between what China says it's doing and what it is actually doing," he said.

One area of concern that has given the US sleepless nights is what Blumenthal calls China's anti-access capabilities.

"China is developing military capabilities that make it much more difficult for the United States to access hot spots in the region and, therefore, to meet its various defense commitments which have underguarded security order in the region for half a century," he said.

Beijing has deployed various classes of destroyers with cruise missiles that can fire upon US carrier battle groups, "which is a matter of great concern," he said.

In addition, Blumenthal said, China's deployment of diesel submarines made it "much more difficult and complicated for US carrier battle groups to get into areas that they need to get into."

China is also accused of using its manned space program to achieve its military ambitions.

"Every mission performed either electronic or military surveillance for the PLA [People's Liberation Army] but China is loathe to admit, from the very inception, that its manned space program has directly served military purposes," Fisher said.

Brookes said that the US' immediate concern is that China will try to use its new military might on Taiwan to effect unification. Also, China has as many as 750 ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan, according to the Pentagon. Many of them are reportedly also capable of striking US forces stationed in Japan.

Party assets game set to continue

The problem of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) stolen assets has once again made the KMT the target of severe attacks from both the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the executive. However, the KMT has asked for it. The lack of progress and transparency in the handling of the disposition of the assets against the backdrop of the KMT's open commitment to return them, as well as popular expectations, naturally invites resentment.

Last week, Vice Minister of Finance Lee Ruey-tsang indicated that in terms of real estate assets, the KMT has so far only returned 1.29 percent, if the calculations are based on actual size of these assets, and 5.67 percent, if based on their value. These figures show that the KMT has failed to live up to its promise of returning the assets to the public and the country.

These accusations were, unsurprisingly, immediately refuted by KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Che-shen, who said that all party assets were obtained lawfully and who criticized Lee for his method of calculation -- which traced real estate properties obtained by the KMT during the period after 1949, when the KMT government fled to Taiwan.

The difficulty with the campaign to compel the KMT to return its stolen assets starts with no one even knowing for sure just how many of these assets there actually are. Therefore, it is hard to monitor whether the party has indeed returned them. However, having said that, it is also clear that the KMT hasn't even come close to returning any significant portion of its assets. For example, Lee's calculations covered only real estate. Obviously that is because real estate is tangible and immovable, so it isn't hard to trace ownership. As for its other assets, unless the KMT has enough moral conscience to voluntarily provide an exhaustive list, it will prove impossible to obtain one.

Then there is the issue of how to identify stolen assets that need to be returned. On the one hand, there are those like Chang who claim that the assets were lawfully obtained. The assumption is of course that the KMT is good enough to even want to return its assets. As for how much, it is entirely up to the KMT. This kind of argument is of course a cruel joke. During the early decades of the KMT regime, there was no rule of law. The rubber stamp legislature would write or pass whichever law the rulers told it to. So, technically speaking, Chang could be right -- there was no violation of law when the KMT obtained the assets, in the absence of real laws.

However, the manner in which these assets were obtained was entirely at odds with fundamental democratic principles. Democracy in Taiwan has evolved to the point where people find the method used in obtaining these assets to be abhorrent. This is something that the KMT cannot ignore. It is indeed short-sighted of those in power within the party to cling onto these assets and allow this topic to haunt the party over and over again.

Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's election to the KMT chairmanship presented an invaluable opportunity for the party to change its image by making a clean break with the past. A lot of people had high expectations that Ma would do better than his predecessors. However, Ma, so far, has not lived up to these expectations and the cat and mouse game over the KMT's assets continues.

Lee and Lien trips highlight truth

LIBERTY TIMES EDITORIAL

While visiting the US, former president Lee Teng-hui changed his itinerary and made an effort to see the Liberty Bell, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the US National Archives, which houses the original draft of the Declaration of Independence.

The Liberty Bell, cast in 1752, was intended to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges. Its most resonant tolling was on July 8, 1776, when the bell summoned the citizenry for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. This is what has made the Liberty Bell such a significant symbol for the US. Lee pointed out that, "Since freedom is a universal value, the Taiwanese should pursue it without having to be oppressed by others."

Lee went further, saying that "An average of 5,000 tourists come here every day to view the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Americans should be proud of their national heritage."

He also said that the documents enabled the American people to understand the importance of national identity.

However, he also said, it was a shame that Taiwan had failed to make its own nationals understand what direction the nation is pursuing. As a result, Taiwanese have yet to fully identify with their own country and do not know how hard their ancestors worked to make the nation what it is now.

As an octogenarian, Lee could quite easily ignore politics and spend more time with his family. However, he is going beyond what is expected of him for the welfare of the nation. And, despite China's overbearing oppression, Lee has overcome all obstacles to enhance the exposure of Taiwan in the international community during his trip to the US.

This is the second time that Lee has visited the US in recent years. Prior to this, in 1995, Lee visited his alma mater Cornell University and gave a speech entitled "The wishes of people are always in my heart," successfully helping the nation inform the American people of Taiwan's political and economic achievements. At that time, although Lee delivered the speech in his capacity as president, and had to conform to the constraints imposed by the idea of the Republic of China, yet he still sought to underline Taiwan as the focus of concern.

Now, although Lee is a former president, what he says and does is still constrained by political considerations. Nonetheless, he maintains that the whole nation should consider the importance of constitutional engineering and pursue the changing of the national title. After visiting the Liberty Bell and viewing the Declaration of Independence, to gain US support for Taiwan Lee stressed that what Taiwan is pursuing is no different from what the founding fathers of the US sought when declaring independence.

While Lee was making great efforts to promote Taiwan's democracy, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan visited China for the second time, this time with his family, and met with several high-ranking Chinese officials.

Lien is now heading in a direction exactly opposite to that of the Taiwanese people and Lee. Lien and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong received red carpet treatment during their respective China visits in April and May this year.

Lien has already stepped down from his KMT chairmanship, and Soong, although winning re-election as party chairman, is no longer a key figure, so both of them no longer have substantial power when it comes to influencing the nation's politics. That both of them have visited China a second time, and enjoyed fawning treatment within six months of their first visits, seems to indicate that they are hoping to use China to extend their political careers.

Both Lien and Soong, both of whom have enjoyed the benefits of high political office, seem unable to express gratitude to the Taiwanese people, but instead seek to pay tribute to the rulers of China. What's more, ever since China's enactment of the "Anti-Secession" Law, which effectively gave Beijing the "legal" option of taking Taiwan by force, the response of Lien and Soong's pan-blue camp has been to obstruct Taiwan's arms-procurement bill.

They do not care about safeguarding the lives of Taiwanese people, and show no gratitude toward the people who supported their political careers.

In contrast to Lee's trip to the US to fight for Taiwan, Lien and Soong kowtowed to the enemy. Lee paid his respects to martyrs who died for independence, liberty and democracy and expressed hope that the Taiwan can move toward a brighter future. In contrast, Lien and Soong have declared submission to one of the world's most vicious dictatorial powers, willingly accepting the "1992 consensus" and "one China under the Constitution", and doing their utmost to obstruct the arms-procurement bill.

After Lee stepped down from the presidency, he continued to pursue the goal of Taiwan's freedom. Lien and Soong on the other hand are acting as stooges for China's ambitions to annex Taiwan. No starker difference could be presented to history to judge.