• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

News from CNA in Taipei

CHEN OFFERS FIVE-POINT STATEMENT ON DPP STANCE

Aug 06, 2002 21:08 UTC+0800

Taipei, Aug. 6 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian, in his capacity as chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, reiterated Tuesday that Taiwan and mainland China are two political entities of "equal sovereignty."

Addressing a DPP Central Executive Committee meeting, Chen offered a five-point statement to reiterate that his "one side, one country" quote Saturday -- which he described as a simplified and unclear term for his idea that Taiwan and mainland China are countries on either side of the Taiwan Strait -- should actually be defined as "equal sovereignty" for Taiwan and the mainland.

Chen told the assembled DPP heavyweights that "Taiwan and mainland China are equal sovereignties across the Taiwan Strait" is a better way of explaining what he meant regarding the status quo of cross-strait relations.

Chen stressed that Taiwan is a sovereign state whose official name is the Republic of China. Taiwan is not someone else's local government or someone else's "special district" and this should not be blurred and has to be clarified, he added.

Despite adversity and hardship from beyond Taiwan's borders, the ruling DPP must strive to safeguard national dignity and protect the people's welfare, Chen went on.

He added: "If we do not remain firmly steadfast in walking down our own road, we risk losing everything if we are dwarfed and take the path of others."

Beijing has never suspended its suppression of Taiwan in the international community, nor has it ceased its military threats in the Taiwan Strait, Chen said, pointing out that those deeds only hurt the feelings of the Taiwan people and drive the two sides further apart.

Unless Beijing renounces publicly the option of using force against Taiwan, all "reasons" that Beijing produces as a pretext for its complaints will be considered as mere excuses for taking Taiwan, and that is unacceptable, Chen said.

Meanwhile, he exhorted the DPP party hierarchy to swallow their anger and pride in the face of severe criticism and intransigence from the opposition camp "for the sake of the people and for the nation."

Chen called for political reconciliation and esprit de corps within the country so that "all can work together to face the outside world."

Finally, Chen said, he would like to share again with his DPP comrades the invaluable phrases that were part of his inaugural speech -- that "totalitarianism and force can only hold the people for one point of time, while democracy and freedom are ever-lasting architecture." He also noted that neither his nor the DPP's steadfast beliefs have changed since the party's inception 16 years ago.

(By Deborah Kuo)