阿扁接受 Time Asia 的訪問，就說到中共面對的是具有十足軟性的台灣領導人，而中共選擇在野人士交流，而拒絕與台灣政府單位接洽，是相當不智的行為，台灣與中國合流的條件，必須用對等、和平、民主、自由的方式來完成。以下是英文報導：
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
'China
Doesn't Understand Ah-Bian'
Interview with Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian
TIME:
How do you interpret the Bush Administration's arms-sales plan for
Taiwan? Chen: The decision was made because
of China's increasing military budget and expanding military buildup,
including missile deployment. It is also because China has continued
to delay constructive and meaningful dialogue with Taiwan. Because
of the threat from China, the military balance in the Taiwan Strait
might be lost by the year 2005.
TIME:
If Jiang Zemin were to visit Taiwan, what would you tell him?
Chen: First,
we would want Jiang to understand that Taiwan is a true democracy
and that our legislature, media and society are democratic and diverse.
Second, we hope that Jiang would understand that the "One Country,
Two Systems" policy they advocate has no market in Taiwan. They
should not think that just because Hong Kong people accept such a
policy, 23 million Taiwanese would also accept it. Third, we would
make Jiang understand that Taiwan practices true religious freedom.
While in China the Falun Gong movement has become a problem, in Taiwan
it poses no problem whatsoever.
TIME:
Does China understand what's happening in Taiwan?
Chen: The PRC
doesn't understand Taiwan, it doesn't understand the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) and it doesn't understand Ah-Bian (Chen's nickname) personally.
The PRC has made two major mistakes. First, it thought that my administration
would soon topple. Ah-bian will not fall and will certainly complete
the four-year term. Second, the PRC thinks that talking to this administration
directly would be giving credit to Ah-Bian and the DPP. But actually
the resumption of meaningful and constructive dialogue would not only
credit Taiwan but would also benefit the PRC and Jiang.
TIME:
Your plan to transit in the U.S. through New York strikes some people
as unnecessarily provocative.
Chen: According
to recent polls, more than 62% of the people believe that my transit
through the U.S. will be beneficial for promoting Taiwan's overall
diplomacy. It's strange how the PRC is interfering in the affairs
of other countries. The U.S. is a sovereign and independent country
and it should be able to provide the appropriate reception and service
to visiting heads of state from other countries. Why should they have
to consult with anyone else?
現在中共又發狂舉行東山島（攤台灣）發陸演習，而台灣投資中共大陸有五兆（五萬億台幣）的事實，亦無法稍減中共之弩，台灣真要小心中共誤射台灣了。這件事情老外可是眼不瞎，看得清清楚楚，知道老共想消滅台灣又不敢馬上消滅的行為，是因為台灣的熱錢正一波波投共去了。中共做投台灣的導彈遊戲，而台灣則是反投中共金雞蛋，相信不久台灣金雞母會勇敢飛向祖國而僅剩營養不良的瘦乾小土雞，不過土雞的生命力好像更強韌是吧！
看 THE WASHINGTON TIMES 的報導：
Beijing prompts invasion fears
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
China has massed amphibious
vehicles and landing craft on an island near Taiwan as part of large-scale
military exercises that are now under way, Pentagon officials said
yesterday.
At least 157 amphibious
craft and vehicles were spotted recently on Dongshan island by U.S.
intelligence-gathering aircraft. The island is located across the
Taiwan Strait from southern Taiwan.
The exercise is raising
concerns among some in the Pentagon that China is practicing for a
future invasion of Taiwan or an attack on one of Taiwan's smaller
islands near the Chinese coast.
"We
have not seen these kinds of forces there for some time," said
one intelligence official, who noted that the numbers were three times
higher than during past exercises. The amphibious exercise is expected
to be one of the largest shore-based war games held by the Chinese
military in recent years.
Other defense officials
sought to play down the exercises. One official said the Dongshan
maneuvers are "Phase 2" of war games under way in the South
China Sea.
"This
is part of the spring amphibious exercise series," the official
said. "Dongshan is right across from Taiwan, but we think these
are normal [exercises]. It is not unusual for the Chinese to put everything
they have into the mix."
A third official said
the equipment involved in the exercise includes amphibious tanks,
jeeps, armored vehicles and landing craft. The maneuvers also are
expected to employ hovercraft troop transports deployed from large
amphibious ships.
Amphibious assault landings
during exercises by U.S. Marine Corps forces normally include scores
of landing craft and some water-capable tanks and armored combat vehicles.
In February 1945, for instance, when U.S. Marines assaulted the island
of Iowa Jima it took 495 ships to land 75,000 troops.
Preparations for the
amphibious exercise near Taiwan come as Chinese forces are engaged
in another military exercise farther south in the South China Sea,
said officials familiar with U.S. intelligence reports.
Activities related to
both exercises were first reported by The Washington Times on May
17. U.S. officials said the South China Sea drills involve Chinese
naval and air forces on Hainan island and on Woody Island, a small
disputed islet claimed by both China and the Philippines.
The amphibious warfare
arms on Dongshan were photographed last week and their presence was
reported to Pentagon policy-makers.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry
said Friday that the military drills are "routine." His
statement did not provide details on the exercises. "They are
not targeted [at Taiwan] and have nothing to do with the president's
visit abroad," the ministry said in a statement, referring to
the fact that Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian currently is traveling
in South America.
Reports of the Chinese
military exercises caused stocks to fall and the value of the Taiwanese
dollar to drop.
A
Taiwanese government official said on Friday that Chinese military
exercises and missile deployments near Taiwan are not helpful in improving
ties between the two countries. "We don't feel military intimidation
is constructive," said Tsai Ing-wen, head of the Taipei government's
Mainland Affairs Council, Reuters reported from Taipei. "Military
exercises and missile deployment targeting Taiwan violate the mainland's
commitment of using peaceful means to solve the problems across the
Strait," he said.
A Pentagon report to
Congress on the Taiwan Strait military balance said an invasion of
the island by China is one of three possible forms of attack. "The
PRC could launch an invasion of Taiwan (or an offshore island), using
amphibious or other sea or air transported forces," the report
said. Other possibilities include a blockade or combined air and missile
attacks.
Adm. Dennis Blair, commander
of U.S. forces in the Pacific, has said a Chinese invasion of Taiwan
is not likely because China's military lacks ships for moving troops
and equipment over water. China has fewer than 100 amphibious warfare
ships capable of carrying large numbers of troops and tanks.
Dongshan, where the current
exercises are being held, was the main site of China's 1996 military
amphibious exercises involving ground, air and naval forces. Those
maneuvers also included missile test firings north and south of Taiwan.
The exercises and missile
launches were viewed by the Pentagon at that time as possible preparations
for a military attack on Taiwan. They came amid preparations for elections
in Taiwan and were seen as part of efforts by Beijing to intimidate
Taiwanese voters.
The United States responded
with the dispatch of two aircraft carrier battle groups to waters
near Taiwan in a show of force.
China's
military has been building up its naval forces since the 1996 standoff
that has become known as the Taiwan Strait crisis.
Richard Fisher, a specialist
on the Chinese military, said Beijing will likely use the maneuvers
to showcase their new amphibious tanks, armored personnel carriers
and jeeps near Taiwan.
"We should be very
concerned about this exercise and what the combined PLA exercises
over the last two years tell us about the accelerating capability
of the People's Liberation Army to conduct combined arms warfare,"
Mr. Fisher said.
Mr. Fisher said that
China's limited amphibious warfare capability can be used for a range
of operations, from attacking Taiwan's small islands to conducting
a security following large-scale aerial bombing and missile attacks.
A photograph of a new
Chinese armored personnel carrier shows a combat vehicle with an outboard
motor attached. "This is why we say the Chinese are using '60s
tactics with '50s technology," one defense official said.
Chinese military writings
also have discussed using fishing boats and other small vessels as
part of an invasion force against Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon
said yesterday that a team of four officials would travel to China
later this week to assess how to ship the damaged EP-3E surveillance
aircraft out of Hainan island, where it has been held since the April
1 collision with a Chinese F-8 jet.
TAIPEI - Taiwan's top
China policymaker said on Friday military exercises conducted by its
communist rival were not constructive for bilateral ties.
Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman
of the cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, told Beijing its military
threats against the island violated a pledge to resolve cross-strait
dispute through peaceful means.
"We don't feel military
intimidation is constructive," Tsai told a news conference.
Taiwan's defense ministry
said China was holding routine military exercises -- part of its annual
troop inspection drills -- but dismissed media reports that the war
games were linked to President Chen Shui-bian's overseas visit.
"The current military
drills are routine. They are not targeted (at Taiwan) and have nothing
to do with the president's visit abroad," the defense ministry
said in a statement.
The statement did not
say where the drills were being held, but local newspapers said they
were being held on Dongshan island off China's coast in the Taiwan
Straits.
Chen was in Latin America
for a state visit after a two-day visit to New York, where he was
greeted by several members of the U.S. Congress and Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani.
In its sharpest reaction
yet to Chen's stopover visit, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhou
Wenzhong summoned U.S. charge d'affaires Michael Marine on Wednesday
to lodge a strong protest, the official Xinhua news agency said.
China blasted the United
States for allowing Chen to visit New York, saying it had given him
a platform to promote independence for his island.
China, which views the
island as a breakaway province that must be brought under its rule
by force if necessary, menaced Taiwan with months of war games in
1995 and 1996 after then President Lee Teng-hui's landmark U.S. visit.
FINANCIAL
MARKETS TAKE HIT
News of the military drills
sent shockwaves through Taiwan's edgy financial markets. The benchmark
stock index fell 1.08 percent to close at 5,170.08, while the Taiwan
dollar stood at T$33.492 at midday break against T$33.458 on Thursday.
Tsai said President Chen
has offered olive branches to stabilize relations across the Taiwan
Strait, but Beijing's refusal to deal directly with Chen's administration
has blocked the possibility of a breakthrough.
``The quantity of the
exchanges increases, but the quality of the exchanges deteriorates,''
Tsai said in apparent reference to Beijing's bid to woo the island's
opposition politicians and business leaders.
Tsai said the government
has completed a review of the previous administration's ``no haste,
be patient'' investment policy toward China, but it was waiting for
a good time to introduce the changes -- possibly in the second half
of the year when an economic slowdown bottoms out.
Under the new policy,
the government would adopt a pro-active approach to allow more local
businesses to invest in the mainland, Tsai said.
``If they feel they have
compelling need to move forward, we will consider it favorably,''
Tsai said.
Under the ``no haste,
be patient'' rule, Taiwan firms are barred from investing in strategic
sectors such as semiconductors, petrochemicals and infrastructure,
with a US$50 million limit on each project.
