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Candidates on Feb. 22, 2004 ……
Candidates focus on the referendum
"We hope Lien can stop being
stubborn [on the referendum issue]. How can he not believe in people, while
asking people to believe in him?" --- Chen Shui-bian, president
DEBATE: In the second debate for presidential candidates, Lien Chan came under fire for his `contradictory' attitude
By Chang Yun-ping, STAFF REPORTER
President Chen Shui-bian used the opportunity of the second presidential election debate yesterday to exhort the Taiwanese people to treasure the referendum, scheduled to run in tandem with the presidential poll of March 20, and upbraided his opponent Lien Chan of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), who said he would not vote in the referendum.
Lien's attitude showed he had no faith in the people, Chen said.
The referendum issue became the focal point of yesterday's debate.
Asked by Chen whether Lien will vote on the referendum, Lien said "I respect the people's right to vote on the referendum, but for me, it is an illegal and controversial referendum. I certainly won't cast my vote on it and I suggest Mr. Chen immediately stop it."
Chen, however, countered Lien's remarks, urging people to vote and calling Lien's attitude contradictory in asking people to exercise their democratic right by voting for him but to abrogate that right in the referendum vote.
"We hope Lien can stop being
stubborn [on the referendum issue]. How can he not believe in people, while
asking people to believe in him? How can he ask people to vote for him while he
himself is not going to cast a [referendum] ballot? This is very
contradictory," Chen said.
In addition to the referendum issue,
cross-strait policies, personality traits and economic development also figured
in yesterday's debate.
Chen again attacked Lien's statements about laying aside sovereignty issues when dealing with cross-strait interactions and said Lien's running mate James Soong's proposal of a "one China" roof has reduced Taiwan's status into something like "carpets and tiles" under the roof.
"Do you agree or not about your presidential running mate's proposal of a `one China' roof theory? If you agree, then what does Taiwan represent? Is it carpets or tiles that Taiwan has become [under this roof]?" Chen asked.
For his part, Lien blamed Chen's cross-strait policy for stalling progress on direct links over the past four years and promised to start a cross-party national development meeting to tackle the issue of the National Unification Guidelines.
Chen also said in his concluding speech that he will endeavor to normalize cross-strait relations by dispatching Taiwan's first representative to be stationed in Beijing and push for Taiwan's entry into the World Health Organization within two years of his re-election.
He said his biggest wish after May 20, the inauguration date of the new presidency, was to "shake hands and reconcile with [Chinese President] Hu Jintao."
On the economy, Lien urged people to support a second transition of political power to restore economic prosperity to the country under the KMT's administration.
Chen, however said a second transition of political power means a return of the KMT's "black-gold" money politics and corruption, which the Democratic Progressive Party administration has tried hard to eliminate.
Likening the revamping of the country to housecleaning, Chen said his administration has "cleaned the garbage left by the KMT, repaired the leaky roof, built new pillars for the house and polished the windows of the building."
Chen said a second political transition will mean that "we would hang up the 50-year-old curtains again … and replace the new TV sets with the old TV picture tubes of this black-gold politics."
Lien yesterday again attacked Chen's character as "capricious," citing his inconsistency on the policies of whether to continue the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Other issues discussed in the debate ranged from gender equality, the autonomy of Aborigines and revisions of compulsory military service to the rezoning of municipalities.
At the end, Chen also invited Lien to participate in another two rounds of debates in order to better present the policies of both parties to the people. However, Lien shied away from giving an answer to Chen's invitation.
President Chen Shui-bian, left, makes the thumbs-up sign, while blue-camp presidential candidate Lien Chan stands at his podium during the second televised presidential debate yesterday.
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On Feb. 21, 2004 ……
Hong Kong is a poor model
Vincent Wang, Richmond, Virginia
Beijing's "one country, two systems" scheme is quickly revealing its true colors ("Hong Kong reform talks `just show,'" Feb. 17, page 1).
To add credibility to its unification plan, Beijing promised in 1997 that it would leave Hong Kong's socioeconomic system and way of life unchanged for 50 years. Pundits praised Bei-jing for assuring Hong Kong's anxious residents.
Ironically Beijing now can make good on this "generous" offer and deprive Hong Kong of a chance to democratize (perhaps until 2047) because the territory, despite its many freedoms, was not a democracy in 1997. If Beijing feels insecure, Hong Kong cannot democratize. Thus, "one country, two systems" looks increasingly like "one country, one system" -- China's, not Hong Kong's.
Before the handover the international community erroneously focused on whether Chinese tanks would roll through Hong Kong's streets. The real threat turns out to be China's steady encroachment on Hong Kong's freedoms. This is hardly a model for Taiwan.
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On Feb. 21, 2004 ……
Going for the record
Peter Dearman, Taipei
I was pleased to see you chose the "overwhelming support" for the human-chain rally as your lead story ("Human-chain rally gathering steam," Feb. 17, page 1). I wonder exactly what a scheduled participant is, but if more than 1 million people have already stated their intention to participate, then it is a good start.
The Guinness Book of Records states that the longest human chain ever was up to 2 million people long and stretched 595km across the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
Maybe we have a chance. Maybe this is something people can get excited about. Wouldn't that make some blue-camp politicians grimace! And they would probably have to join in too.
Interestingly, and perhaps propitiously for Taiwan, the record-setting event was a big deal politically. At that time, in 1989, some nations had already escaped the grasp of Soviet rule, but the Baltic states hadn't. To quote the Central Europe Review, "this unprecedented protest action against Soviet rule brought the national liberation movements into the spotlight, setting an irreversible course for the three captive nations."
The event was held on the 50th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression treaty which led to the illegal invasion and occupation of those countries by the USSR. The rally was essentially a declaration of independence by the people, parallel to the Velvet Revolution or the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was followed by two turbulent years of ineffective repression by the USSR until the three states officially declared their independence and were quickly recognized both de jure and de facto by Iceland.
Interestingly, the US was among the very last countries to follow suit.
So now I wonder how many will actually turn out on Feb. 28. It doesn't matter if the record is broken or not. It will be another fine attempt to trump repression with mass-action nonviolence.
Who knows? Maybe it will turn out to be more important than either the election or the referendum. Maybe we can make a chain around the whole island next time. Or a giant happy face. That would surely make headlines around the world and redden Beijing's face.
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On Feb. 21, 2004 ……
Soong is shameless
Taitzer Wang, Cincinnati, Ohio
Your recent article ("Soong
rails against `illegal' referendum and refuses to vote," Feb. 18, page 3)
tells clearly that, after all these years, People First Party Chair-man James
Soong is still conspiring to deprive the Taiwanese people of freedom of speech.
Soong's mentality remains the same as when he headed the Government Information
Office under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime in the martial-law era.
In those dark days, he was the one
who did not observe the law and illegally suppressed people's viewpoints.
Sadly, he is now shamelessly running for the office of vice president of a
full-fledged democratic Taiwan.
He can't have his cake and eat it
too.
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