Chinese missile threat growing: Chen
　

HURDLE: Chen said Taiwan is open to any proposal that would help resolve cross-strait tensions, but that preconditions set by Beijing are preventing a peaceful end

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER, WITH CNA
Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008, Page 1

The number of missiles Beijing has deployed against Taiwan is now more than 1,300, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday during his New Year address.

Chen said that over the past seven years, the number of missiles deployed along China's southeast coast had increased fivefold, from 200 to 988. Today, that figure was 1,328, he said.

"Solidarity is Taiwan's only option," he said. "As long as we stay united, we can overcome the differences of national identification and maintain perpetual peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."

Chen said Taiwan welcomed any proposal that could help maintain peace and stability across the Strait. Chen said that in his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on Oct. 15, 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) had advocated the negotiation of a peace agreement to formally end the state of hostilities across the Taiwan Strait.

However, Chen said, the biggest hurdle for the improvement of cross-strait relations was Beijing's precondition of adhering to the "one China" principle.

"Normalization of relations between Taiwan and China cannot be advanced if preconditions are imposed," Chen said.

"Setting preconditions is equivalent to establishing foregone conclusions. It lacks sincerity and allows no room for consultation and negotiation," he said.

In what would be his last New Year address before he steps down at the end of his second term in May, Chen chanted "Taiwan, jiayou [加油, an expression of encouragement]" several times.

Chen refused the US request that he halt a referendum on Taiwan's UN membership parallel to the presidential election in March.

No one, including the president himself, he said, can "reject" the referendum because it had been initiated from the bottom up, adding that he was sorry to see the US and European countries oppose the referendum.

"Taiwan, as a peace-loving, sovereign state, has the right to ask the UN to fairly consider its membership application," Chen said. "To exclude Taiwan from the international body is to discriminate against the people of Taiwan and a covert act of political apartheid."

Chen called on the international community to repudiate Beijing's pressure and avoid interpreting the basic human rights of the 23 million people of Taiwan to enter the international body as a provocative act or an attempt to change the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan is an independent sovereign state and only the people of Taiwan have the right to decide its future, Chen said.

Neither China nor any other country can do this for Taiwanese and the people have the absolute right to express their hope to participate in the UN, he said.

Chen blamed the nation's diplomatic dilemma on dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石).

The president said Chiang had made a terrible mistake by withdrawing the nation's representative from the UN in 1972.

To join the UN and the WHO under the name "Taiwan" does not amount to changing the name of the country, nor does the country intend to compete with the People's Republic of China over China's representation at the UN, he said.

Chen said that overinvestment in China was the main cause of Taiwan's widening gap between rich and poor.

Citing statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Commission and organizations in other countries, Chen said data showed that the ratio of Taiwan's annual China-bound investment to its GDP had increased from 0.81 percent in 2000 to 2.15 percent in 2006.

That figure was much higher than the highest corresponding ratio over the same period for Singapore, South Korea, Japan and the US at 1.71 percent, 0.44 percent, 0.1 percent and 0.02 percent respectively, the president said.

The ratio of China-bound investment to total outbound investment, meanwhile, more than doubled from 33.93 percent in 2000 to 71.05 percent in 2005, he said.

"Unrestricted, unsupervised investment in China over the years has been the main factor in the appearance of an M-shaped society in Taiwan," he said.

Continued intensive investment in China would not help ease the impact engendered by an M-shaped society, he said, adding that it would only exacerbate current economic difficulties instead.

The president highlighted four major goals -- increased investment in Taiwan, the creation of more jobs, a narrowing of the urban-rural divide and the narrowing of the gap between rich and poor -- as key to transforming the nation's M-shaped society.

Later yesterday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) criticized Chen for blaming the so-called "M-shaped society" on the nation's investments in China.

Ma said that such investments had contributed to the nation's foreign trade surplus.

Without the NT$60 billion (US$1.8 billion) trade surplus resulting from the investment in China, the nation would show a trade deficit, he said.

"Cross-strait trade was driven by investment and many imports of Taiwanese products come from China-based Taiwanese businesses. I don't know whether it is that Chen has no knowledge of these things or that he simply pretends not to know," Ma said in Taipei.

Ma shared his doubts on Chen's promise to bolster the nation's democratic spirit by holding regular elections.

The president has misunderstood the true meaning of democracy, he said.

"There are 111 countries that hold regular elections, but many of them are not democratic countries," Ma said.

"Some elected politicians govern their countries with administrative orders and stir up ethnic tension. Similar situations have occurred in the third world and in Germany. But that's not democracy," he said.

National Democracy Hall reopens

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008, Page 1
　

National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall reopened to the public yesterday, with the 10m high statue of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) remaining in the lobby of the hall, which has been decorated with kites to reflect the theme of "a democratic wind."

Amid sporadic shouting outside the hall, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) delivered the opening speech inside the heavily guarded building yesterday morning, saying that the name change of the hall and new inscription on the main arch signified that authoritarianism had ended and that an era of freedom and democracy had begun.

"Freedom and democracy have become part of our life, like the air we breathe each day," he said. "They do not come easily, however. Our ancestors fought for them, sacrificing their personal safety and even their lives."

The renaming of the hall, which was carried out under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, met with strong opposition. The inscription on the gateway -- dazhong zhizheng (大中至正), referring to Chiang's "great neutrality and perfect uprightness" -- was subsequently replaced with "Liberty Square."

Chen said the name change and the two exhibitions that opened at the hall yesterday would remind people that democracy and liberty come at a price and that Taiwanese must cherish those hard-earned achievements.

Ahead of the opening yesterday, there had been speculation that the administration would dismantle the statue or cover it up. Chen said the government would do neither.

Chen said that since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in 2000, his administration had made every effort to remove relics of authoritarianism.

During his term as Taipei mayor, Chen said, he changed Chiehshou Road's (介壽路) name to Ketagalan Boulevard to demonstrate his goodwill toward Aborigines and renamed Taipei New Park to 228 Peace Park -- in commemoration of the government crackdown on the civilian uprising that became known as the "228 Incident."

During his presidency, Chen replaced a sign that had hung over the entrance to the Presidential Office since 1948 -- Chiehshou Hall (介壽館) -- with a new sign that simply read "Presidential Office."

Chen said the reopening of the hall symbolized the "opening of the door of democracy" and that it transformed "a temple" worshipping a dictator to a venue where all people can freely reflect and learn the true meaning of democracy and human rights.

"We believe history will speak for itself and people will learn from history," he said. "That is the true meaning of the reopening."

Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-jung (莊國榮), who had floated the idea of covering up the statue, yesterday said that it was one of the many options the ministry had considered.

The main hall, where the statue stands, is decorated with kites and large posters featuring themes from the nation's democratic movement.

The kites represent achieving freedom, Chuang said, like a butterfly that emerges from its cocoon.

He said the decorations cost about NT$1 million (US$31,000), substantially less than the price of the statue -- NT$23 million -- and the building itself -- NT$1.2 billion.

Asked about Vice President Annette Lu's (呂秀蓮) recent criticism of his handling of the renaming project, Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said people would be the final judges of his performance even though "some individuals" might not be pleased with him.

Tu asked reporters attending the opening ceremony to decide for themselves whether the changes to the hall were worthy of praise or not.

"The way various media outlets report on today's event will be an indication of the development of media freedom and neutrality in the 20 years since the lifting of martial law," he said.

At an election rally event on Saturday in Jhonghe (中和), Lu called on Tu to apologize to the public for "mishandling" the issue, blaming it for the DPP's recent waning popularity.

Chueh Feng-shih (闕豐實), a 67-year-old Taipei resident invited by the organizers to attend the ceremony, said he felt sad when he saw the names of all the victims of the 228 Incident posted on the wall.

He did not think the statue of Chiang should be removed. The statue can serve as a reminder to the public of the atrocities that Chiang committed during his rule, Chueh said.

Another guest, who identified herself only as Mrs Chen, agreed, saying that it was only right to educate the public both about the dictator's crimes and his contributions.

Her husband, Mr Su, however, said the statue should be melted, made into a missile and used against China.