“We’re concerned about the
Chinese presence in Iraq and … My administration is sending the
appropriate response to the Chinese,” Bush told a news conference on
Feb. 23, 2001. The report, which will likely
heighten concern over China’s aid in military matters in the Middle
East. Washington was worried Beijing had helped Iraq enhance its air
defense systems. Iran is one of the most active
countries seeking materials and technology from abroad to develop
biological chemical and nuclear weapons. As we had known that Iran sought
nuclear-related equipment, material and technical expertise from a variety
of sources from Russia and China. In Taiwan, Liberal International,
a London-based global federation of liberal parties around the world,
decide to grant President Chen Shu-bian the 2001 prize for freedom. Sir David Steel, speaking of the
first Scottish parliament, as well as former president of the Liberal
International organization, outlined his vision on Scotland’s
longstanding pursuit for its autonomy and how the Scottish experience
could shed light on cross-strait relations. In an interview with Taipei Times,
he imagine that the argument was, here is an island which had quite a long
period of non-democratic rule, followed by semi-democratic but one party
rule, followed by a democratic change of government. And this is rather remarkable in
this part of the world where you have military coups, one-party states and
the dominance of China by the communist party under a series of
Beijing’s threat, Taiwan achieved its style of “democratic value”. “Taiwan could be an autonomous
unit like Scotland within a bigger entity. But that can only happen on two
condition. “One is the free will of the people and the second is the
creation on the mainland of a society which is open and democratic,” he
said. …He expressed the future in
mainland China, “In places like Shanghai and Guangdong, the whole
atmosphere is very different from Beijing. These two factors both give me
hope that change can come.” “China is not going to be
immune from global influences and I don’t believe the present closed
system can prevail in the long run,” he added. In our view, Taiwan is a highly
interactive society with tight interpersonal and mass-media communication
nets. A social phenomenon spreads easily. This can work for the common
good, since the power of social networks easily reach to individuals and
families. Taiwanese people can enjoy
freedom and prosperity, but under Beijing has been faulted by increasingly
harsh treatment of Falun Gong, and widespread its military force, that
Taiwanese people are fearing of “rights of survival”. Mainland China’s human rights
abuse is getting increasing international attention, as many political
leaders in the west turn a blind eye to the suppression of the freedom of
expression and other basic human rights in mainland China. As the mainland is set to join the
world trade organization this year, it must commit itself to the rule of
law in business and in dealing with ordinary citizens. In our view, how to increase
world’s leaders on watching the mainland’s human rights record could
hopefully help the mainland transform from an authoritarian state to one
acceptable to the international community are the most concern. Surely, Taiwan is a hope island of Chinese people. On the other hand, Taiwanese people must struggle for existence by way of Washington’s support.
Yours Sincerely,
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