In a recent exclusive CNN interview, independent presidential candidate James Soong pointed out that Taiwan must be able to maintain its present way of life and that the Taiwanese people have the right to choose their own government. He further quoted former U.S. President Kennedy in his remarks that Taiwan will not negotiate out of fear, and especially will not seek peace under military threats from the PRC.

James Soong’s statements were a victory for Taiwanese democracy. At the beginning of his campaign, Soong consistently refused to clearly set out his stance on cross-strait relations, and in an interview last August with The Washington Post, he did not give a clear expression to his opinion on Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations and the proposed theater missile defense system. But now, needing to capture extra voted, Soong has clearly stated his opposition to the “one country, two systems” formulation advanced by China. Whatever the result of the coming presidential election may be, the three major presidential candidates have all expressly rejected the “one country, two systems” plan, because it is totally against the will of the Taiwan people.

“One China” is Beijing’s plan; it’s just a plan, it’s not a reality. The reality is that two independent, sovereign states exist on opposite sides of the Taiwan Strait. In their plan, Beijing advocates that two different systems can coexist under a “one country, two systems” framework.

As with any great autocratic plan, China’s plan is a great plan: a plan by which communist China intends to annex democratic Taiwan. The late American President Abraham Lincoln once said of the United States, “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free,” What the Chinese leaders are proposing, however, is precisely that slavery and freedom can coexist.

The idea that slavery and freedom can coexist is one of the great lies of the 20^th century. To a great extent, the seeds of the two great wars of the last century and of the cold war of the last half of that century lay in humanity’s struggle to resist that lie. The struggle to resist, however, was not concluded with the ending of the last century. At the least, the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend democracy will not waver.

The real issue at stake in cross-strait relations is the struggle between an autocratic nation and a democratic one --- not the issue of unification. The leaders of China say, “Unification is the common desire of all peoples on both sides,” but they themselves can hardly believe this to be true, or they would allow the will of the people to be expressed democratically, and peace across the Taiwan Strait could be easily guaranteed. The government of China rejects democracy. Thus, they can only use the threat of armed force to sell their plan for unification. The people of Taiwan are thereby forced not only to reject that plan, but are also given no choice but to take heed of what Lincoln said and did in defense of democracy and freedom.

Lee sealed his reputation as a troublemaker in Beijing’s eye by traveling abroad to raise Taiwan’s international profile a 1995 visit to his alma mater Cornell University in the United States, drove China to suspend talks with Taiwan, both test-missiles and redouble efforts to isolate the island diplomatically.

Calling him “a representative of the true Taiwan spirit”, President Lee Teng-hui has extended his condolences to a legendary opposition leader who died of a heart attack last month.

Lee praised the contributions of Huang Hsin-chieh, former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party. Huang was one of a few politicians who had been through the three stages of Taiwan’s political development --- the Japanese colonial rule, the martial law period, and the democratic period under the ruling Kuomintang’s leader ship. President Lee called Huang “a star in darkness before dawn,” in which vision for Taiwan’s future will always be in the mind of the people of Taiwan (Jan. 4, 2000).