Hypocritical China

If Chinese government really wants to show its amiability to Taiwan, why doesn't it remove the 800 missiles toward Taiwan? Does China think Taiwanese people want two pandas more than their own lives? Chinese government refues to talk to Taiwan's DPP government; China never stops threating Taiwan and always attacks Taiwan in all kinds of occasions. China impedes Taiwan's participation in WHO and told Taiwanese "who cares about you". Are these also the ways that China shows its friendship to Taiwan? It is absolutely insane to accept China's deceptive offer.

Taiwan Rejects China's Offer of Pandas

By STEPHAN GRAUWELS, Associated Press
Fri Mar 31, 11:00 AM ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Tuan Tuan the panda won't be following in the footsteps of his mother and grandparents as a goodwill ambassador for China. Taiwan on Friday rejected China's offer of the panda and a female mate, Yuan Yuan, in the latest sign of a hardening attitude toward its communist neighbor.

Beijing first offered the animals last May as part of an effort to woo Taiwanese support for uniting with the mainland, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
Their names come from the word "tuanyuan" which means "reunion."

Tuan Tuan comes from a long line of panda ambassadors. His mother, "Hua Mei," was the first U.S.-born panda to live longer than a few months. She was born in 1999 to a pair of pandas China lent to the San Diego zoo in California. She returned to China in 2004.

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture said the island was unable to accept the pandas because they would not receive proper care on the island as required by animal protection laws and international agreements.

"Under present circumstances, we cannot accept the pandas coming to Taiwan," Forestry Bureau vice chairman Lee Tao-sheng told reporters after final discussions by a panel of experts.

The Taipei City Zoo and the Leofoo Village Theme Park in the northern city of Kuanhsi both applied to house the pandas. But Lee said they did not offer enough details on research an education plans for pandas.

The pair was picked from 11 animals at the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwestern Sichuan province.

Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian and his supporters have repeatedly denounced China's offer as a propaganda ploy designed to camouflage its threats to attack Taiwan. Chen is a strong supporter of a separate identity for the island, while the opposition supports eventual unification.

In February, Chen in February angered Beijing by scrapping a body in charge of unification with the mainland. Last week, the government announced stricter supervision of trade and tourism links with China.

In a statement on the presidential Web site last week, Chen said the pandas would not be happy living in Taiwan and called on Beijing to step up conservation efforts for the animals in China.
China estimates that 1,590 pandas live in the wild in the country, with another 183 in zoos and breeding centers.

No. 2 Asian country in NRI rankings

Taiwan's remians one of the top countries in IT development!

Taiwan ranks No. 7 in 'readiness' index for IT development

CNA , GENEVA
Thursday, Mar 30, 2006, Taipei Times

Taiwan moved up several spots in an annual global index of "networked readiness," ranking seventh among 115 economies, according to a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday.

According to the Global Information Technology Report 2005-2006 Networked Readiness Index (NRI) rankings, Taiwan has moved up eight notches from last year's 15th place, entering the top 10 for the first time.

The NRI measures the degree of preparedness of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from information and communication technology developments.

Augusto Lopez-Claros, director of the Global Competitiveness Network at the WEF and co-editor of the report, said Taiwan was a leader in the adoption and widespread use of information and communication technologies and in stimulating innovation.

Among the technologically advanced economies in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan outperformed Japan and Hong Kong in terms of NRI, ranking second behind Singapore.

In terms of NRI rankings, the top 10 countries are the US, Singapore, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Canada, Taiwan, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The NRI examines an economy's information and communication technology conditions from three aspects: the general macroeconomic, regulatory and infrastructure environment; the readiness of the three key stakeholders -- individuals, businesses and governments -- to use and benefit from the technology; and their actual use of the latest information and communication technologies.

Washington Times Op-Ed -- "Beijing's Aggression" by Joseph Wu

Joseph Wu, the Minister of Mainland AffairsCouncil of Taiwan has an op-ed piece appeared in the Washington Times on March 24, 2006. In the article he gave a quick summary of the current situation of Taiwan, domestically and internationally, in a nut shell. (Emphasis mine.)

---

Beijing's aggression

TODAY'S COLUMNIST
By Jaushieh Joseph Wu
March 24, 2006

During his visit to Japan in November 2005, President George W. Bush said that by embracing freedom at all levels, Taiwan has delivered prosperity to its people and created a free and democratic society. For Taiwanese who lived through the four decades of authoritarianism and martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Mr. Bush's words were no less an official recognition of what Taiwan has fought hard to achieve over the past few decades.

We, the Taiwanese people, understand and appreciate that the U.S. government has contributed significantly to our democratization. As Taiwan has now democratized, some in Washington have shifted their attention to other authoritarian battlegrounds. We've recently seen some of these defenders of liberty challenge giant American enterprises that are helping the Chinese regime. The Taiwanese people applauded this act, just as we cheered Mr. Bush's speech in Japan.

While some writers and other advocates of freedom continue to struggle on inside China, Taiwan is quietly helping by working hard to poke small holes in the "Great Firewall" with the hope that very soon information can freely flow to the Chinese people. Taiwan's own experience tells us that as long as there is outside support, freedom fighters will continue their battle from within against that seemingly invincible enemy, state control. The Taiwanese people stand firm together with members of Congress and these Chinese champions of liberty both in word and in deed.

Ironically, Taiwan, just like any other young democracy, still bears some trappings of the authoritarian dictatorship of the past. The national anthem of Taiwan is that of the KMT, and the emblem of the national flag is the KMT emblem. In addition, corporations such as China Airlines, China Ship Building, China Petroleum, and China Steel are actually Taiwan's state-owned corporations, not China's.

For any other newly democratized country, the issues mentioned above could be easily remedied. Unfortunately for Taiwan, these issues persist because China consistently threatens Taiwan with force when these issues are publicly discussed. But just like in any other democracy, these issues will not be ignored and will be open to public deliberation. Taiwan's government understands the sensitivity of these issues and has handled them with prudence, despite public opinion strongly being in favor of the continuation of political reform. Taiwan is deeply committed to maintaining peace and stability in the region.

In Taiwan today, there is a clear sense of insecurity despite pride in her democratic achievements. China is becoming increasingly more influential internationally and cleverly uses its power to marginalize and suffocate Taiwan. Taiwan cries out for help from time to time, but the results have been extremely disappointing. While Taiwan desires a free trade agreement with the U.S. to counter China's attempt to marginalize Taiwan economically, it has not materialized. While Taiwan worries about China's aggression, its defense budget continues to stall in the legislature. While the world is vulnerable to the spread of avian flu, the World Health Organization still excludes Taiwan.

Almost a year ago, China passed the Anti-Secession Law, which claimed Taiwan to be a part of China and legalized the use of non-peaceful means against Taiwan to enforce that claim. On the advice of the U.S. government, Taiwan offered a muted response to prevent conflict from erupting in the Taiwan Strait. But China's military threat increases, its attempts to suffocate Taiwan internationally grow stronger, and Taiwan becomes increasingly divided and internally weakened in facing China. Regrettably, none of what Taiwan needs to feel secure has been forthcoming.

China again threatened Taiwan when President Chen Shui-bian recently suggested ceasing the function of the National Unification Council (NUC) and its guidelines both remnants of the past regime. The NUC and its guidelines specify that the only course open to a democratic Taiwan is unification with authoritarian China, which goes against a fundamental and guiding democratic principle that the people have the right to determine their own destiny. Ceasing the NUC and the NUG is fully in line with democratic principles.

The Taiwanese government understands the United States' very legitimate concern over whether President Chen's actions constitute a unilateral change of the status quo. he status quo in the Taiwan Strait is that the two sides, China and Taiwan, are fully separate entities, neither having jurisdiction over the other, best exemplified by the democratization of Taiwan, which occurred without regard to what the state of affairs was across the strait. Taiwan fully supports U.S. policy because it is against Taiwan's interests to change what is indeed reality.

President Bush's comments late last year were an encouragement to Taiwan. Taiwan is now refining its democracy, the better to be a beacon for democracy activists in China to follow, and in this endeavor Taiwan deserves U.S. support.

Jaushieh Joseph Wu is the Minister of Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan.

Taiwan's future market is getting competitive

Taiwan's stock market becomes more and more important and popular in the world. Many international investors keep pouring their money in Taiwan because they know Taiwan's economic environment is getting better and better. Like them, all people in Taiwan should also have faith in the government. The future is still bright, as long as we believe in Taiwan!

Taiwan to introduce dollar-denominated futures

2006-03-28 / BLOOMBERG /

The Taiwan Stock Exchange and Taiwan Futures Exchange yesterday signed contracts with Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. to jointly compile a Taiwan futures index and introduce three U.S. dollar-denominated futures products.

The three sides signed the contracts in Taipei yesterday, aiming to strengthen the competitiveness of Taiwan's futures market, they said in a joint briefing.

"The move will help bring in more foreign investors to stimulate Taiwan's futures market and make it a more internationalized market," Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Kong Jaw-sheng said in Taipei.

By the end of 2005, foreign investors accounted for 3.2 percent of the transactions on Taiwan's futures market, far behind the 18 percent in the Taiwan stock market, leaving room for improvement, Kong said. Foreign investors also accounted for 32 percent of business on Taiwan's stock market in terms of total value, he said.

Taiwan Futures Exchange today introduced Taiwan index futures, MSCI Taiwan index options and gold futures, all of which are U.S. dollar-denominated, it said in a statement. Gold futures will become the exchange's first commodity product.

The exchange from today will also allow trading for non-hedging purposes by foreign investors, abolishing previous rules that restricted foreign investors to futures trading only for hedging purposes, the statement said.

The Financial Supervisory Commission on August 16 denied a report that Morgan Stanley Capital International may remove the island's stock market from its global indexes.
The Economic Daily News reported that day that Morgan Stanley may remove Taiwan stocks because of disputes over the pricing of its MSCI Taiwan index futures. The newspaper refused to say where it had gotten its information.

Removal could have seen falls for some prominent Taiwanese stocks as global fund managers automatically reduced their holdings of such stocks in line with the benchmark MSCI index.

Taiwan and India

India has blooming economic growth in recent years. Its prosperous software industry can be an excellent complement of Taiwan's hi-tech industry. Both are democratic countries and also regard China as a threat. The government and the people in Taiwan should do their best to imrpove the relationship with India.

Taiwan should embrace India: NSC official

GROWING FORCE: Council Deputy Secretary-General Parris Chang said that India was seeking to become a power in South Asia and had improved its relations with the US

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER, Taipei Times
Monday, Mar 27, 2006,Page 3

Former vice premier Wu Rong-i, right, points to a map while presiding over the final day of the 2006 Asia-Pacific Peace Watch conference in Taipei yesterday. He slammed China's suppression of Taiwan's diplomacy, saying that only if the arms procurement bill was passed could there be a possibility to hold cross-strait peace talks. PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMESWith India's increasing influence in the South Asian region, Taiwan might want to extend its "go south" policy to include that country and seek more economic and political cooperation with the developing economy, a top official at the National Security Council (NSC) said yesterday.

"The world is observing the warming relations between the US and India, especially the most recent US-India nuclear agreement, which US President George W. Bush hopes the US Congress will endorse despite the fact that India has not signed the UN's nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty," council Deputy Secretary-General Parris Chang (張旭成) said.

"India sees China as its biggest threat in the region and its alignment with the US reflects a change of course in its foreign policy," he said.

Chang made the remarks on the last day of the Asia-Pacific Peace Watch conference in Taipei.
The two-day symposium was organized by the Taiwan Peace Foundation. While the first day of the forum focused on the security situation in Northeast Asia, the Taiwan Strait and Southeast Asia, the second centered on South Asia and the South Pacific.

Chang, who chaired the South Asia session yesterday, said that India's ambition to become one of the dominant powers in the region hinged on its relationships with the US and China.

In addition to building closer relations with the US, India last April agreed to forge a strategic relationship with Beijing.

Chen Han-hua (陳漢華), a council member, said that he expected to see the demand for oil in South Asia increase, forcing countries in the region to seek supplies from the Middle East or to cooperate with foreign investors in oil exploration programs in the region.

What Taiwan can do to help is to provide South Asian countries with petrochemical technology, Chen said.

Chen also warned India of the dangers of dealing with the Chinese authorities, pointing out that China is very good at adopting the approach of "using warm water to cook frogs," meaning that the frog does not realize it is dying because it grows used to the warm temperature.

Senior adviser to the president and former vice premier Wu Rong-i (吳榮義), who chaired the South Pacific forum, criticized China for bullying Taiwan and suppressing the nation's presence on the international stage.

Wu also emphasized that Taiwan had to become a stronger country before conducting talks with China.

"That is why it is so important for the legislature to pass the arms procurement plan as soon as possible," he said.

Analyzing China's influence in the South Pacific, Chang Yu-chang (張裕常) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China aspired to accomplish three things in the South Pacific region with its booming economy.

First, China wanted to buy diplomatic relations and isolate Taiwan, he said.

Chang said that China had invested US$4 million to build a stadium in Fiji and US$15.5 million to construct a swimming pool there.

China's generous contributions had won Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) a ticket to attend this year's China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum Ministerial Conference in Fiji in April, he said.

Second, China wanted to invest in natural resources in the region, he said.

Chang said that China had obtained the consent of Austria to obtain uranium from that country.
Finally, China wanted to mold the South Pacific to its own strategic requirements in order to
counter the US in the region, Chang said.

Welcome more interaction!

It's a good sign that Taiwan has good relationship with its neighbors. We should understand that China is not the only neighbor in which Taiwanese can invest or travel.

Taiwan, Vietnam to expand flights as trade, tourism take off
Sat Mar 25, 12:44 PM ET

TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwan and Vietnam have agreed to expand flights between them on the back of booming trade and tourism, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has said.

Under the new pact pending final approval from both governments, the seat capacity of Taiwanese airlines offering regular passenger flights to Ho Chi Minh City will nearly double to 11,000 a week from 6,010, the CAA said in a statement.

And the cargo flight capacity of Taiwan air carriers would be lifted from 600 tonnes a week to 1,000 tonnes, it said.

Taiwanese airlines would also be allowed to extend their flights from Vietnam to Europe while Vietnam Airlines would be allowed to extend its flights from Taipei to San Francisco or Los Angeles, it said.

Trade between the two sides more than doubled to 4.7 billion US dollars in 2005, up from 2.1 billion dollars in 2000.

Taiwan History

Taiwan did not belong to China from the beginning. If many countires in this world can declare their independence, why can't Taiwan?

Birds in Taiwan don't sing; flowers lack fragrance---Li Hung-chang

2006-03-21 / Taiwan News / Edited by Tina Li/Translated by Susanne Ganz

The comment "Birds in Taiwan don't sing, flowers lack fragrance" was made by Prime Minister Li Hung-chang of the Ching Dynasty just before the empire relinquished Taiwan to Japan after the 1894 Sino-Japanese war. The Chinese prime minister went on to say that Taiwanese men on the island were heartless, and the women had no loyalty to their lovers.

With that comment, Li's aim was to persuade the emperor that there should be no regrets in giving up an island far from the mainland in exchange for the empire's safety. As a leading negotiator, he was responsible for making the infamous Treaty of Shimonoseki to wager peace with Japan after the Ching Dynasty's military defeat.

Before his departure for Japan to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Li submitted a letter to the Chinese emperor, making the case that surrendering part of China's territory was vital to finalizing the peace treaty.

Apart from Li, there were other imperial officials calling for negotiations with Japan before the empire lost the war and was forced to cede lands near its capital to foreigners. Prime Minister Li was one of those who suggested that the emperor keep the capital at all costs. He advised that relinquishing offshore islands such as Taiwan and Penghu was the best choice since they were far enough from Beijing.

His suggestion did not upset the royal rulers, since the emperors on the mainland were already thinking that including Taiwan in the empire's territory was a mistake. This view emerged as soon after Emperor Kanghsi took over the island in 1683. The mainland regime was plagued by frequent uprisings throughout its 212-year rule of the island. The empire was forced to send its mainland forces to Taiwan every three to five years to quell revolts, big and small.

A sense of distrust existed among many officials in the royal court toward the Taiwanese, and the empire retained its policy of stationing soldiers from China on the island. From the beginning to the end of the Ching Dynasty, the Taiwanese were deprived of the right to join the military to protect their homeland.

The islanders further suffered economic hardships under Ching's governance, as they were forced to supply grain to Chinese soldiers' families on the mainland. The order placed a burden on many Taiwanese families, not only because of the huge food production demand, but also because the government forced them to pay the cost of shipping the grain.

Under Japan's colonial rule, some Taiwanese, opposed to the new rulers, sought support from the government of Republic of China founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1912. But they were disappointed for the most part.

A prominent figure and advocate of Taiwanese independence from Japan at the time, Lin Hsien-tang, was notably one of those seeking help from China to attain this goal.

Lin met with Liang Chi-chao in 1909 in Japan. He turned to Liang for advice on how the Taiwan people could get rid of the political, economic, and legal discriminations imposed by the Japanese colonialists.

Lin was however unexpectedly cold-shouldered by Liang, who could only advise the young Taiwanese to emulate the Irish people who had attained the right to political participation by enlisting the help of British opposition forces.

Liang clearly told Lin that "within 30 years, it would be impossible for the mainland to offer any assistance to help the Taiwanese people realize their goal."

One of Lin's aides held another discussion with Chinese revolutionist Tai Chi-tao in Tokyo four years later. Tai listened to the account of the Taiwan people's miserable conditions under Japanese colonial rule, but he had no substantial ideas or advice for the Taiwanese delegate.
Tai acknowledged that for next 10 years the R.O.C. government would likely be stuck fighting Yuan Shih-kai and would need to rally all the country's forces to win the battle. Therefore, any hopes of the republic assisting Taiwan were slim.

Successive Chinese governments after the Ching Dynasty also showed a marked indifference toward Taiwan.

Both the Chinese Nationalist Government and Chinese Communist Party remained apathetic toward Taiwan, but once suggested that the island should be autonomous, as was Korea, another Japanese colony at the time.

Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the R.O.C., had urged that Taiwan should establish its own parliament and independent government, said Tai Chi-tao, a revolutionist and top aide to Sun. Sun thought that the Taiwanese people should strive toward establishing an independent country, and even leaders of Communist China offered similar comments.

Mao Zedong and Zhao Englai publicly backed Taiwan's liberation and independence movement. Mao said that Communist China under his rule had supported Korea's efforts to break away from Japanese colonialism and "Taiwan should also be encouraged to do the same."

United Democracy Will Stand!

Somehow the smaller the countries, the more guts they have. If all democratic countries can really work together to push China toward democracy, there will be fewer political victims in China. If people do care about the life of Chinese people, they should not be an ally of the nortorious Chinese Communist Party. Politics and economics may be very important, but human right and democracy are not negligible.

Pacific allies to shun summit with China's premier

By Chang Yun-ping
STAFF REPORTER, Taipei Times
Friday, Mar 24, 2006,Page 3

The diplomatic tussle between China and Taiwan in the South Pacific is set to escalate in April as Taiwan's six island allies have decided to boycott a meeting hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) when he tours the region next month, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday.

Wen is scheduled to visit countries including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Cambodia, from April 1 to April 8 and is expected to hold the China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum Ministerial Conference 2006 with the island countries during his visit.

"The six countries we have official ties with in the region will not participate in the conference. China is doing everything possible to gain their favor, but there will be no problem with our ties with these countries given our efforts," said Donald Lee, director general of the ministry's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Taiwan's six diplomatic allies in the Pacific are Kirabati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

China's Fiji meeting

The China summit, to be held in Fiji on April 1, will be attended by six other island countries that recognize China -- the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The conference was a result of an initiative proposed by China's Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) at last October's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting to promote China's cooperation with Pacific island countries in the areas of environmental protection, health, tourism, education, agriculture and fishing industries, according to a report in Hong Kong's Takungpao.

Lee said China originally wanted to tie in the conference with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), the largest regional political club of which Taiwan is also a donor, but the PIF secretariat put the brakes on the plan to co-host the China summit after Taiwan protested.

China has been working hard to compete with Taiwan for political influence in the region. It has offered US$1.7 million to the government of Fiji to sponsor the one-day conference and Fiji has received up to US$13 million in grants from China so far this year, the official said.

"The money China spent in squeezing Taiwan's diplomatic space is actually 10 times higher than [what we've spent]," Lee said.

Import workers

Meanwhile, Lee said the government is working on a project to bring workers from the nation's six Pacific allies to Taiwan.

"Currently, Taiwan has an intake of 320,000 foreign workers from Southeast Asian countries. The Pacific island countries are relatively small and have very low populations. If we introduce, say, 500 workers from each of these countries, I think this number can easily be absorbed by Taiwan's market and in the mean time, it will significantly benefit our small Pacific allies," Lee said.

The official said the details of the proposal are still being coordinated with the Labor Affairs Council and no specific timetable is available yet on when the worker scheme might begin.

Taiwan's Unemployment Rate Stays at Five-Year Low

Many opposition party political figures and scholars like to attack the current ruling party DPP for "running the economy to the ground". Some residing international media journalists like to interview certain pan-blue (opposition) scholars. As a result, they would put in their report such as "Taiwan's stagnant economy" or "rising unemployment rate".

Here's bloomberg's most recent report on Taiwan's unemployment rate -- at it's five-year low and is here to stay. (Emphasis mine.)

Taiwan's Unemployment Rate Stays at Five-Year Low

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Taiwan's unemployment rate held at a five-year low in February as companies such as Chang Hwa Commercial Bank hired more people for expansion.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 3.95 percent last month, little changed from the 3.97 percent recorded in January, the statistics bureau said today in Taipei. That was the lowest rate since February 2001.

Low unemployment may make households more inclined to spend, supporting a government forecast that expansion will accelerate this year. Taiwan's economy grew at the fastest pace in 18 months in the fourth quarter, prompting the government to lift its economic growth forecast for 2006.

Economists had expected 3.96 percent unemployment, according to the median of 16 estimates collected by Bloomberg News. The number of people unemployed on the island rose to 408,000 in February from 397,000 the previous month, today's report showed.

Taiwan's economy expanded 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, beating most economists' forecasts, as electronics exports jumped and consumer spending increased. The government on Feb. 23 boosted its forecast for expansion this year to 4.25 percent from 4.1 percent.

Chang Hwa Bank, Taiwan's seventh-biggest lender by assets, is planning to hire 100 more employees, including customer services officers and information technology specialist, the Economic Daily News reported on March 13, citing the bank.

Without adjusting for seasonal changes, Taiwan's jobless rate was 3.92 percent in February, up from 3.8 percent in January, the statement said.

Move the investment to India

Taiwan should work closely with other democratic countries instead of its enemy China. Taiwanese businessmen must understand that China is a political and economic rival to Taiwan, not a partner. Taiwanese should not invest in a country that threatens force.

Taiwan Pushes India Trade Ties

March 20, 2006, 5:23AM
By STEPHAN GRAUWELS
Associated Press Writer © 2006 The Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's creation of a business council to promote commercial ties with India is part of the government's effort to reduce the island's growing economic dependence on rival China, experts said Monday.

Last month Taiwan announced the formation of a "Taiwan-India Cooperation Council" to push trade and investment with the booming South Asian nation.

The head of the new body is former Taiwanese Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who is now chairman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The DPP seeks to distance the self-governing island of 23 million people from the communist colossus 100 miles to its west, and fears that closer economic ties will reduce its room for political maneuvering.

"China is now employing a policy of 'using business to encircle Taiwan,'" said Hung Chin-tan, executive secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Investment Council.

Lin Wen-cheng, a China expert at Kaohsiung's National Sun Yat-sen University, says Taiwan has to find good alternatives to its commercial relations with China because of the tense political situation between the sides.

"I don't understand why Taiwan should invest in a country that threatens force," he said.

Taiwan and the mainland split amid civil war in 1949. Despite Chinese threats to attack if Taiwan moves to formalize its de facto independence, business between the two sides is booming, with Taiwanese companies having invested more than $100 billion since the early 1990s.

A report issued Saturday by the World Trade Organization said China's trade deficit with Taiwan was $58 billion _ meaning Taiwan exported to China far more than it imported _ the biggest deficit China has with any trading partner.

Taiwanese investment in India is still small _ about $200 million _ and at $2 billion its 2005 trade with the South Asian nation is only a fraction of its China commercial exchanges.

Taiwanese analysts say that Taiwan's sophisticated information technology industry has a lot to offer to India, which is developing rapidly as a major producer of high tech goods and services.

Many Taiwanese businessmen are drawn to China because of an assumption that a common culture and language will make business dealings easy.

However, that contention is not necessarily true, said political scientist Vincent Chen of Taipei's National Chengchi University.

"When Taiwanese business people invest in China, they have to deal with a communist system, and that's a far more difficult obstacle than any cultural differences with India," he said.

Taiwan stands up!

"China the elephant often goes crazy and tramples upon us, but we are not allowed to struggle, or even yelp in pain," President Chen.

Thousands gather for anti-China rally in Taipei
Saturday March 18, 3:45 PM

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Taiwan's pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian gathered for an "anti-annexation" rally on Saturday to protest China's threat to use force against the self-ruled island.

Organisers say the march is expected to draw a crowd of 100,000 people to mark the first anniversary of China's passage of the Anti-Secession Law that authorises war if Taiwan declares statehood, thereby violating Beijing's "one China" policy.

China and Taiwan split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

With red ballons symbolising Chinese missiles and placards reading "Protect democracy, Oppose Annexation", Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the rally would show the world the Taiwan people's determination to defend their democratic way of life.

Chen, Vice President Annette Lu and Premier Su Tseng-chang are expected to join the marchers, many of who were bused in from all over the island.

Keen to shake off Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the island, the president scrapped a dormant but symbolic Taiwanese body called the National Unification Council, triggering condemnation by China.

Chen likened Taiwan as a rabbit bullied by a raging elephant, China, when he met a group of Taiwan businessmen on Friday.

"China the elephant often goes crazy and tramples upon us, but we are not allowed to struggle, or even yelp in pain," Chen said.

Taipei says Beijing had accumulated nearly 800 missiles targeting the island and was adding to its arsenal at a rate of between 75-100 a year.

But for Taiwan's 23 million people, the issue of reunification versus independence has always been tricky. Opinion polls consistently show more than 80 percent of Taiwan people prefer the status quo.

Last week, tens of thousands of opposition supporters, who favour closer ties with China, marched through Taipei to denounce Chen, accusing him of fanning tensions with China.

Yes, Taiwan!

"We are here today to defend democracy, and to oppose annexation, (China's) authoritarian regime, and missiles. We are making a declaration to the international community that Taiwan is a sovereign nation."

MASSIVE RALLY ASSERTS TAIWAN'S SOVEREIGNTY

2006-03-18 17:33:41 CNA

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) Over 100,000 people took to the streets in Taipei Saturday to assert Taiwan's sovereignty, defend democracy and protest against China's intention to annex Taiwan.

The rally was held by the Taiwan Democracy Alliance for Peace. Present at the rally were Presidential Office Secretary-General Tan Sun Chen, Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Chairman Shu Chin-chiang. "We are here today to defend democracy, and to oppose annexation, (China's) authoritarian regime, and missiles. We are making a declaration to the international community that Taiwan is a sovereign nation," rally program host DPP spokesman Tsai Huang-liang said.

Shu said that the rally was to demonstrate that the Taiwanese people are the masters of Taiwan, and Taiwan and China are two separate countries.

Meanwhile, Yu pointed out that it is important for Taiwan to speak out for itself and its sovereignty. "China is suppressing Taiwan all the time: China continues to tell the world that Taiwan is a part of China, and if we do not speak out the truth, then that means we acquiesce to the statement. We cannot allow that, so we have to stand up and speak our mind, " Yu said.

Yu said that during Taiwan's first popular presidential election in 1996, China threatened Taiwan by lobbing missiles into the sea near Taiwan, but the Taiwanese people used their votes to show that they were not intimidated.

He further pointed out that when China passed the Anti-Secession Law last year, Taiwanese people held a rally against it and won international support. "As long as China does not stop suppressing Taiwan, we will continue our rallies in democratic March in the future, " Yu said.
He said that in the past ten years, March has been a key time in deepening democracy in Taiwan, pointing out that March has always been the month for presidential elections in the country.

Yu stressed that this kind of rally is not intended to cause conflict between the "pan-green" and the "pan-blue" camps and that he is disappointed that the opposition has been making snide remarks about the rally.

He criticized the opposition for not speaking out for Taiwan in the international community. He claimed that when the opposition held a rally last week, the rally was a protest against the ceasing of the operations of the National Unification Council and that it was aimed at creating conflict within Taiwan. "Only by defending democracy can we bring domestic stability, and with domestic stability comes economic development, and then comes happiness for our future generations," Yu said.

Taiwan is doing right!

Taiwan will continue to be one of the most democratic countries which make the world better. All people in Taiwan love peace and freedom. Stand with Taiwan, you can make the world better!

Taiwan not the one making waves

By KOH SE-KAI
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office Tokyo

Mar. 19, 2006
The Japan Times

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's recent decision to discontinue the National Unification Council (NUC) and to shelve National Unification Guidelines has disturbed members of the international community. This reaction is mostly a result of a misunderstanding of Chen's motives. Even some media reports in Japan appear to have misconstrued the issue.

The halt to the National Unification Council by no means represents a change in the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. As a democratically elected leader of Taiwan, Chen has made an administrative adjustment with regard to a body that had advised his office only. NUC was not empowered by the legislature and had no constitutional relevance otherwise. Thus it is rather ridiculous to view the cessation of a nonfunctioning body as a precursor to a change in the status quo.

Last March, China adopted the "anti-secession law" to give it a pseudo-legal foundation to take Taiwan by force if necessary. The People's Liberation Army subsequently built up its force, and more than 700 missiles have been deployed on China's side of the Taiwan Strait. Yet Taiwan is the one accused of trying to undermine the status quo.

Taiwan is not only Japan's neighbor but also a major trading partner. Furthermore, Taiwan's geographic position -- at the threshold of the Taiwan Strait -- provides Japan safe sea passage. Any attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait would be detrimental to both Taiwan and Japan. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will do its best to safeguard the peace and stability of the region.

Taiwan is not part of China

Taiwan is an independent country! All people in Taiwan are not afraid of China's threat.

Taiwanese rally against China's annexation threat

March 18, 2006

By DPA

Taipei, March 18 (DPA) Some 100,000 Taiwanese marched through Taipei Saturday to protest against China's threat to retake Taiwan by force if Taipei seeks independence.

The protest, called by President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), marks the first anniversary of the passing of China's 'anti-secession law' which allows China to attack if Taipei declares formal independence.Holding flags and placards, the protesters shouted 'Safeguard Taiwan's democracy!' 'Oppose China's aggression!' and 'Taiwan is not part of China!'

Some protesters held plastic models of missiles to remind the world that China has 784 missiles pointed at Taiwan.President Chen, addressing the rally at the end of the march, called on the people to unite in the fight to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty.

'Taiwan is not part of China, and we do not allow our sovereignty to be shared with anyone,' Chen stated.

Chen said the master of Taiwan's fate is not China, but the 23 million people of Taiwan. He vowed to hold a referendum to decide Taiwan's future, even at the cost of losing his position as president.

China sees self-governing Taiwan, seat of the exiled Republic of China government since 1949, as a breakaway province, but Taiwan claims it is a sovereign nation, currently recognised by 25 countries.

Chen plans to hold a referendum on revising the Taiwan constitution, which currently states that Taiwan's official title is the Republic of China and that both Taiwan and mainland China belong to one China.

China is worried that Chen might seek to achieve Taiwan's formal independence by revising the constitution through a name change or by redefining Taiwan's territory.

Beijing recently warned that if Chen amends the constitution, it would view it as 'seeking independence through legal procedures' and would not sit idly by.

Taiwan Go Go Go!

Taiwan is a democratic country of freedom. People in Taiwan are going to show their courages against China's threat and to tell the world that we want peace, not war. If you believe that peace and democracy are the univeral values for all human beings, please support and join the people in Taiwan to speak out for peace and democracy!

Let the world hear Taiwan's voice

2006-03-17
Taiwan News Editorial

We urge citizens who cherish their hard-won democracy and prosperity to participate in the "Protect Democracy and Oppose Annexation" march tomorrow afternoon in Taipei City.

The purpose of the march and rally is to show the world and the People's Republic of China that many Taiwanese are opposed to Beijing's incessant and ruthless drive to undermine Taiwan's democracy and suppress our participation in international society.

The march marks the first anniversary of the PRC's "anti-secession law" last March that mandates the possible use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan.

It is essential for rallies such as this to have strong and vibrant turnouts to dispel any impression to the world that Taiwanese tacitly accept being considered "an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China," as claimed by PRC officials.

By our participation we can demonstrate our unified rejection of Beijing's attempt to manipulate our right to determine our own future.

This message needs to be conveyed again and again because the message that most of the world receives from the international media and, unfortunately, from the Kuomintang, is quite different, namely that a minority in Taiwan is "rocking the boat" of the status quo and endangering a secure and prosperous future in a "greater China" by a quixotic bid for "independence."

Different view

The reality is quite different.

While Taiwan is now engaging in the process of democratic consolidation and deepening, the PRC is bent on subjugating or at least reducing it to a facsimile of Hong Kong or Macau in order to both remove the threat posed to its own totalitarianism from Taiwan's democracy and to realize Beijing's own ambitions to gain a hegemony in the Western Pacific.

Taiwan poses no military threat to China, but the PRC's People's Liberation Army has amassed nearly 800 tactical missiles targeted at you and me along with forward deployments of major offensive forces and weaponry.

What is actually at stake is the defense of Taiwan's independence from the PRC and of the right of its citizens to determine our own future, a privilege we have earned through our "quiet revolution" of democratization after a half century of Japanese colonialism and another half - century of authoritarian rule by the exiled Kuomintang.

Numerous opinion polls show that the majority of our people generally grasp what is really at stake.

For example, a poll of 1,072 Taiwanese released Wednesday by the Institute for National Policy Research showed that 83.1 percent think "the government cannot decide on its own whether on unification or independence without the approval of the people," with only 5.6 percent disagreeing.

Nearly 66 percent rejected the claim by Beijing that "Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China," while 9.5 percent agreeing with it.

The fact that these majority findings cross political boundaries demonstrates the spread of the value of "democratic self-determination" among Taiwanese.

This result also offers the most salient and potent rebuttal of any arguments by either the United States or the KMT for the retention of the misbegotten National Unification Council and its undemocratic National Unification Guidelines, which were singlehandedly created by the KMT in the early 1990s.

Moreover, 62.4 percent agreed that Taiwan's economic dealings with the PRC have caused nation's capital, technology and jobs to be absorbed by China, while only 12.4 percent said the bilateral cross-strait economic ties led to the remittance of capital and investment by Taiwanese businesses back to boost the economy.

No less significant was the INPR's finding that nearly 73 percent of those surveyed do not agree with sacrificing Taiwan's democracy and freedom for the sake of economic growth.

Rebutting critics

These results, none of which were reported in Taiwan's China Times or United Daily News, rebut the hypocritical calls made by KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou and his followers that the Democratic Progressive Party government and everyone else in Taiwan should only concern themselves with "boosting the economy" and leave troubling problems of "unification or independence" or "re-engineering the Constitution" aside.

Indeed, the INPR poll, and other similar previous surveys, indicates a high sense of anxiety over whether the current nature of cross-strait economic interaction is truly beneficial to the welfare of most of the Taiwan people and our democratic way of life.

This finding shows that most citizens want Taiwan's directly elected government to more actively engage in "risk management" for the sake of all citizens and not only shape policy for the benefit of those who gain or have vested interests in cross-strait commercial ties.

However, a worrisome finding of the INPR survey indicates 39 percent of the 1,072 Taiwanese polled by the INPR stated that they "had no feelings about" the PLA's rising deployment or felt that such deployment would not have any influence on Taiwan, while 8.1 percent agreed with Beijing that such deployments "were necessary."

Although 23.9 percent acknowledged fear and 31.7 percent expressed disgust over the PLA's build-up, the fact that nearly 50 percent of Taiwanese adults were numb to this "clear and present" threat to our national security and even our lives posed by the PRC's aggressive military deployment is deeply disturbing.

The greatest danger to our autonomy lies in ignorance abroad about Taiwan's plight and apathy at home among many of our own people who do not sufficiently appreciate or cherish our hard - won right to choose our own road.

We can help to cure both ills by marching tomorrow.

Let the people in Taiwan decide the future of Taiwan

No other country should interfere the interior governance of a democratic country. President Chen simply did his job according to the constitution. In fact, the National Unification Council had not been working for years. It is null and just one of the units which waste the people's money. No people in Taiwan would remember it if nobody ever mentions it. Thus, what is the big deal to cease its function? It is also not a big news that China upsets. China is the enemy of Taiwan because of its 800 missiles toward Taiwan. . Do you truly believe that China is ever friendly to Taiwan? The future of Taiwan is and should be in the hands of all people in Taiwan.

Taiwan's prerogative
THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2006
International Herald Tribune

Regarding the article "Beijing upset over Chen's step in Taiwan" (March 1): President Chen Shui-bian's recent decision to cease the functioning of an anachronistic body, the National Unification Council, and shelve the National Unification Guidelines, represents no change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

It is incomprehensible how the cessation of a nonfunctioning body could result in a change to the present situation. Chen is Taiwan's elected leader, and as the national leader he has made an administrative adjustment to a body that advises only his office. The National Unifcation Council was not empowered by the legislature and has no constitutional relevance.

While China seeks to undermine the current status of Taiwan, a self-governing nation with a democratically elected leadership, Taiwan is accused of changing the status quo. One should remember that China has vowed to take Taiwan by force if necessary and is building a missile force to convince Taiwan to abandon democratic government.

While China continues to stifle freedoms in its own land, Taiwan continues to develop peacefully and democratically. As in any democracy, policy adjustments will be made, even as the central principles guiding the nation are upheld. Taiwan has no intention of roiling the waters of the Taiwan Strait, nor does it intend to give up its prerogatives as a democratic self- governing nation.

Cheng Wen-tsang, Taipei Minister for the office of government information

Embrace the demoractic Taiwan!

WHO should welcome Taiwan if the purpose of its existence is to improve human's health. Taiwan is not a member of WHO at this moment, but Taiwan thoroughly follows the rules and regulations by WHO. Nevertheless, WHO keeps ignoring the healthy issue of the 23 millions people in Taiwan by obeying its worst member China. Just look at how China tries to fraudelently report the information and hide the truth. The Chinese government neither cares about the life of its people, nor other people in this world. WHO, stop insulting youself. Taiwan's participation will contribute a lot to the safety of humans' life.

Grant Taiwan WHO observer status

Wednesday, Mar 15, 2006
Taipei Times Editorial

Last week, the World Health Organization's (WHO) official Web site, which includes Taiwan as part of China, mistakenly showed Taiwan as being affected by bird flu. After protests from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and members of the US Congress, the WHO on Monday distinguished between Taiwan and China, and excluded Taiwan from the infected area on its map.

That the WHO corrected the mistake immediately, pushing aside political considerations, testifies to the organization's professional attitude, and deserves praise. But the incident is yet another warning to Taiwan and the international community. To avoid similar incidents in the future, Taiwan should work to gain the right to attend the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May. The WHO should stop procrastinating and allow Taiwan observer status.

If the WHO had not made the prompt corrections, Taiwan would have been listed as a bird flu-infected area, dealing a serious blow to the tourism, trade and animal foods industries -- despite the fact that not one instance of bird flu has been discovered here. It would also have damaged Taiwan's international image and intensified pressure on the nation's health authorities and the psychological pressure on the general public. This highlights the difference in interests between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Although China claims that Taiwan is part of its territory, border restrictions between the countries remain in place, and the exchange of people, air traffic and goods between the two sides is more strictly controlled than between other countries. The disease prevention measures on each side of the Taiwan Strait are separate, and there are also clear differences in the quality of these measures. Political issues should not be confused with public health issues.

With the whole world under the threat of bird flu, excluding Taiwan from the international network to prevent the spread of infectious diseases may well make it the weak link in the disease prevention chain. This violates the Taiwanese people's fundamental right to medical information. It also weakens the international health network. With Taiwan located so close to China, an area affected by bird flu, the WHO should bolster disease prevention measures by allowing Taiwan to participate in technical discussions. This would prevent a repeat of the SARS crisis, during which Taiwan stood alone.

The WHO's international contagious disease report and response mechanism still excludes Taiwan. Although we can obtain the information via a third party such as the US, direct access to such information from the WHO would be more efficient and reduce the time lag, helping Taiwan to fulfill its responsibility to put in place preventive measures.

Last year, Taiwan strongly supported the addition of the words "universal application" to the International Health Regulations. Last year China also signed a memorandum of understanding with the WHO agreeing to the principle that preventive measures against epidemics have no national boundaries. It also agreed to Taiwan's participation in an avian flu conference in Tokyo. Nevertheless, it barred Taiwan from a similar conference held in Beijing. A country that shows such enmity to Taiwan should not be allowed to become its guardian.

The WHO's basic function is to guarantee global health, and it should operate on the basis of professionalism and international cooperation. Its considerations should exclude political questions such as national sovereignty and focus on health matters. It should therefore grant Taiwan observer status.

WHO disseminates FALSE bird flu info

When the deadly avian flu is spreading across the globe, what would you guess is the rule of thumb of disease reporting for WHO officials? I know not everyone in Taiwan feels the immediate threat of bird flu, as insofar Taiwan has not reported any H5N1 cases among either poultry or humans. But please, my fellow people, access to the following link and you'll be shocked by how the Communist China's diplomatic force is clouding over the reality.

WHO Public Health Mapping

Taipei Times' coverage on WHO's misleading health mapping

Although Taiwan does not have any cases of H5N1 infections, it is classified as a H5N1-affected area because the WHO regards Taiwan as a province of China, where both poultry and human bird flu cases have been reported. How sad is that? When Taiwan is fulfilling all the duties as a good global citizen to prevent the spreading of avian flu, the organization which should report ACCURATE (?!) health information to the world has succumbed its sacred mission to the CCP's political demand. One word from Jen to the WHO officials: what you have done is an outright insult to your own authority!

Apart from the sense of urgency that I felt about Taiwan's isolation in the international community, I'm also disappointed about Taiwan's diplomatic system. I know it is a damn hard job to speak up for Taiwan, when most countries in the world simply want to capitalize on both sides. The Taiwan government needs to recruit/cultivate a lot more talents who is not only intelligent enough to maneuver on a negotiation table, but also has the integrity to defend/protect Taiwan's dignity under all pressure and/or seduction of personal interests.

Chinese Communist Party is evile

Not only the people in Taiwan but also all people in this world should realize the China's threat to the peace of the world.

China's threat demands vigilance

The Liberty Times Editorial
Sunday, Mar 12, 2006
[Source: Taipei Times]

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 1996 Taiwan Straits missile crisis. Ten years ago in the runup to Taiwan's first popular presidential elections in March 1996, Xinhua news agency announced that China would conduct missile tests along the coast across the Strait from March 8 to March 15. China launched four missiles targeting zones just off Taiwan's northern and southern coasts. In response to the rising tensions between China and Taiwan, the US immediately dispatched the USS Independence to take up position off Taiwan's eastern coast. The US' show of force effectively held back China's military ambitions and helped solve the crisis, which had sent shockwaves throughout the international community.

Why did China conduct ballistic missile tests? Some people believe that the reason was former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) private visit in 1995 to his alma mater, Cornell University, where he, as an alumnus, gave a speech on Taiwan's quiet democratic revolution. Lee's speech allowed the international community to learn more about and accept Taiwan's existence.

Although this sounds like a plausible explanation for China's anger, a more important reason was Lee's achievements in promoting Taiwan's democratic revolution and abolishing the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion and the National Assembly in 1991. Lee also initiated constitutional amendments to allow direct presidential elections by popular vote -- which served to build a constructive channel for Taiwanese to influence the government -- carried out reforms in step with democratic norms and helped Taiwan to become a normal state.

More importantly, Lee helped the Taiwanese throw off the shackles of a colonial mentality and transcend the perception of the tragic fate of being Taiwanese. From the broad perspectives of culture, history, society and ethnicity, Lee advocated strengthening Taiwanese consciousness and building a society of people who share a strong sense of identity.

If economic development is our flesh, democracy is our skeleton and a Taiwanese consciousness and identity our blood, our soul and our personality, then Lee succeeded in making Taiwan a more more full-fledged nation.

Taiwan's first direct presidential election in 1996 was also symbolic of the abandonment of the legitimacy of China's claim and the building of a nation which truly belongs to the Taiwanese. In this regard, China's attempts to change the direction of Taiwan's history through political intimidation and military coercion only underlined its vain and brutal nature. In effect, China's 1996 missile tests to intimidate Taiwan were doomed to fail because such a move only succeeded in hurting its relationship with the Taiwanese.

In the wake of the missile crisis, Lee won a commanding 54 percent of the vote in the 1996 election, defeating candidates from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and other opposition parties to become the first popularly elected president of Taiwan.

That was 10 years ago. While Taiwan continues on its democratic path and the development of a Taiwanese consciousness, China has shown no signs of relenting or backing off from its military threats. Taiwan's situation is clearly becoming increasingly precarious. Ten years ago, as the missiles were dropping in the waters off Taiwan, the people of Taiwan seemed more united than they are today. Despite conflicts between different political parties, their shared hatred of the Chinese enemy unified them in their approach toward China. As a result, Taiwan was able to come through the missile crisis in good shape.

Aside from reinforcing its Taiwan-related military deployments and rapidly raising the number of missiles aimed at Taiwan, China has passed an "Anti-Secession" Law and showed its determination to use military force against Taiwan. Although the Chinese leadership has further hardened its tough stance on Taiwan, it has also expanded its soft approach by cooperating with Taiwan's opposition parties, offering import tax exemptions for agricultural products from Taiwan and offering the country a couple of pandas as a gift.

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, opposition leaders are visiting China and being wined and dined by the enemy. Pro-China media outlets are quick to criticize Taiwan and laud China. The opposition is organizing a demonstration and calling on the public to take to the streets, not to launch a protest on the anniversary of China's "Anti-Secession" Law, but to protest against President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) scrapping of the National Unification Council and guidelines and handing the people of Taiwan the right to decide their own future.

Over the past 10 years, China's defense budget has seen double-digit growth every year. China now has the third-largest defense budget in the world, second only to the US and Russia. Even the world's only remaining superpower, the US, worries that China's "non-peaceful" rise will threaten global peace and stability.

Faced with China's military threat, Taiwan should hasten to pass the arms procurement budget to protect national security, the people's life and property and our democracy. Regrettably, the opposition is blocking the arms procurement budget, does not identify with the idea of Taiwan as an independent and sovereign state and rejects the popularly elected government. They oppose and block everything as if they were on China's side instead of the people of Taiwan. From this perspective, the cross-strait situation appears to be even more serious now than a decade ago when we were faced with the missile crisis.

The best strategy now is for Taiwan's 23 million citizens to ignore the issue of when they came to Taiwan, maintain their vigilance despite the apparent calm, face the Chinese threat together and protect the nation's security, while at the same time do all they can to work for economic growth.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti and Perry Svensson

Taiwan, a democratic country of freedom

Everyone can tell the difference between Taiwan and China. Taiwan is definitely not a part of China. Taiwan is obviously an independent country.

NAURU PRESIDENT PRAISES TAIWAN'S FREEDOM

By Debby Wu, CNA

2006-03-10 23:49:48

Republic of Nauru President Ludwig Scotty Friday praised Taiwan for its freedom, and blamed the interruption in the Nauru-Taiwan official ties on his predecessor.

Scotty praised Taiwan's freedom by pointing out that Taiwanese people have freedom of speech and movement, and said he felt happy and comfortable coming here.

He compared the visit to his previous visit to China, and said wherever he went in China, people were always dispelled away from the streets first, while here in Taiwan children ran freely around him when he visited the Taipei 101 tower this time.

Scotty made the statement during an interview with the Central News Agency.

Scotty pointed out that it was former Nauru government which severed ties with Taiwan. "All of a sudden, when the Harris government took over, they changed the relationship. It was not agreed by the people of Nauru, " Scotty said. Scotty also accused the Harris government of corruption, and said now they are trying to correct the mistakes made by the Harris government, including renewing Nauru's friendship with Taiwan. Rene Harris was the Nauru President before Scotty took over in 2004.

Scotty pointed out that Nauru and Taiwan's friendship started from the time when Nauru was striving for its independence in 1968. He said Taiwan was still a member of the United Nations back then and supported Nauru fully to achieve independence.

Scotty admitted that China gave his government financial aid when it first came into power as it was left with no money to run the country. But he said that Nauru treasures friendship with Taiwan, and did not resume ties for the money factor.

When asked about Taiwan's assistance to Nauru, Scotty said that Nauru is only asking "a hand of friendship, " not "heaven, " out of Taiwan. He also said Nauru will support Taiwan to join global community and organizations.

Scotty arrived in Taiwan Monday to conduct his first state visit to Taiwan since two sides resumed official ties in May, 2005. He is leaving Saturday.

Politics (or maybe China) rules WHO?

When will UN's organizations (including itself) start to pay more sincere cares to human life instead of playing political games? Does WHO agree and have the same attitude as China roared to Taiwan, "Who cares about you?" Is the international community complying with the autarchical communist China? Or they simply do not care about the 23 million people in Taiwan?

TAIWAN STRONGLY PROTESTS LISTING AS H5N1-AFFECTED AREA

2006-03-09 23:16:44
[Source: CNA]

The World Health Organization's (WHO's) inclusion of Taiwan on a list of countries affected by the virulent H5N1 avian flu virus is "unacceptable, " Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Chih-fang said Thursday.

Huang said Taiwan's representative office in Geneva has lodged a written protest to the WHO Secretariat demanding that it correct the "grave mistake" immediately.

The WHO uses four maps to illustrate the situation of H5N1 infections among poultry and humans. Taiwan has not reported H5N1 cases among either poultry or humans.

However, under its rigid "one China" principle, the WHO regards Taiwan as a province of China where both poultry and human avian flu cases have been reported.

The WHO argued that it identifies the avian flu situation in terms of "nation" and that Taiwan is therefore included on the H5N1-affected area. "Such an explanation is unacceptable. We demand that the WHO correct its mistake at once," Huang said.

Stressing that the WHO's move was based on an absurd logic, the Department of Health said it has written to the WHO headquarters and the WHO's West Pacific agency demanding them to either issue a statement or add a footnote on the map to clarify that Taiwan has never reported any H5N1 case either among poultry or humans.

Taiwan remains the world's leading country in bicycle industry

Not only in IT industry, Taiwan is also the world's leader in bicycle industry. Giant, the biggest brand in the world, is proudly from Taiwan. Taiwan's contributions to the world are much more than those of China. Why not be a friend of Taiwan?

Taiwan Show Highlights High-End Bicycles

Taiwan International Cycle Show Highlights High-End Bicycles, Scooters

Thursday March 9, 4:35 am ET
[Source: AP]

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- The annual Taipei International Cycle Show showcased scooters and other high-end products Thursday intended to sustain Taiwan's bicycle industry.

The March 8-11 show -- Asia's largest -- focuses on bicyles but also includes scooters and related items.

Once a world leader, the Taiwan cycle sector crashed in 2001, as exports plummeted almost 30 percent from the previous year.

A recovery began in 2004, and at $912 million, last year's foreign sales surpassed those of the previous peak year in 2000 by almost $40 million.

Jeffrey Sheu of Giant Inc., Taiwan's largest bicycle manufacturer, said the local industry was keeping competitive in the face of stern challenges from China and other low-end producers.
"Taiwan has now transformed itself into an added value industry in bikes," he said.

The Taipei show -- with 502 Taiwanese exhibitors and 148 from abroad -- featured a variety of high-end products designed to direct large amounts of foreign currency into local coffers, even if the overall number of units sold abroad declines.

One new product was Acxing Industrial's 20 kilogram (44 pound) portable motor scooter.
Officials of the Taipei-based company said the scooter folds up into a suitcase size package, making it ideal for carrying on mass transit vehicles during multiphase commutes.

They said an internal battery could sustain it for distances of 20 miles at maximum speeds of 20 kmh. They declined to stipulate a price tag, because the item has not yet been mass produced.
Foreign visitors said they were very impressed by the wares on display at the Taipei event.

"This is a very important show," said Daniel Berger of DT Swiss in Biel, Switzerland. "The development of this show is huge."

Berger added that he has been coming to the Taipei event for 10 years, and it has now evolved into one of the most important shows in its field.

Taiwan is absolutely a country

When will the Chinese Communist Party understand the simple fact: Taiwan is an independent country! China should be denounced by its insane behavior.

Japan-China row turns to Taiwan

Thursday, 9 March 2006
[Source: BBC News]

China has denounced a comment by Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso after he called Taiwan "a country".

Japan's foreign ministry denied Mr Aso's remark was a change of Tokyo's official position, which recognises China's claim to Taiwan.

China also rejected a Japanese proposal to jointly develop disputed gas fields in the East China Sea.

Ties between China and Japan have deteriorated recently because of rows over energy and history.

Mr Aso made the comment about Taiwan when talking to a parliamentary committee.

"(Taiwan's) democracy is considerably matured and liberal economics is deeply ingrained, so it is a law-abiding country," he said. "In various ways it is a country that shares a sense of values with Japan."

But Tokyo's foreign ministry later denied this was meant to imply that it was changing its official stance on Taiwan, which it does not diplomatically recognise, in favour of China.

"There is no change in Japan's position on the Japan-China agreement of 1972 that stated there is one China," said Keiji Kamei, of the China division in the Foreign Ministry.

Beijing has nevertheless complained.

"China strongly protests this crude interference in its internal affairs," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang, expressing "surprise that a high-ranking Japanese diplomat would make such remarks".

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since a civil war ended in 1949, but China still sees Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to use force if the island moves towards declaring independence.

China is threatening Taiwan, but the world keeps silence about it.

China is expanding its military power. It is exactly a terrorist country. Now, watch carefully who is changing the status between the Strait! Can't Taiwan do something to defense against China's threat?

Missile buildup is accelerating: MND

GROWING ARSENAL: The minister said that China's missile arsenal now tops 800, giving Beijing the ability to rain terror upon Taiwan's key infrastructure

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER WITH AGENCIES
Wednesday, Mar 08, 2006
[Source: Taipei Times]

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday that China now has more than 800 missiles targeting Taiwan, and is increasing that arsenal at a faster pace of 75 to 100 per year.
The news came as Beijing defended its recent announcement of another double-digit increase -- 14.7 percent -- in this year's military budget.

"China was producing around 50 Dong Feng [DF] series ballistic missiles annually, but ... our intelligence has found it is now increasing by 75 to 100 ballistic missiles annually," said Lieutentant Colonel Chen Chang-hwa (陳章華), an intelligence analyst specializing in the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) missile development, at a press conference held by the ministry yesterday.

Chen said if cruise missiles are included, China now has more than 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan, enabling Beijing to potentially launch a five-wave missile attack continuing for 10 hours.
The PLA's ballistic missiles are now also more precise, according to Chen. They used to have a 600m margin of error, but that has been reduced to 50m, giving China the capability to more accurately hit Taiwan's power stations, radar bases, airstrips and military, economic and political nerve centers.

China's main ballistic missiles are DF-11 missiles that have a range of 600km, and DF-15 missiles that have a range of 800km, Chen added.

Chen said the PLA deploys its ballistic missiles in five bases in southeast China, at Leping and Kanzhou cities in Jiangxi Province, Meizhou City in Guangdong Province and Yongan and Xianyou cities in Fujian Province.

"The missiles can be transported by rail at any time to [China's] coastal areas," Chen added.
The MND also revealed details about the 1996 cross-strait missile crisis on the eve of the event's 10th anniversary.

On March 8, 1996, ahead of Taiwan's first presidential election, China fired ballistic missiles into the sea near Taiwan.

MND spokesman Rear Admiral Liu Chih-chien (劉志堅) said that China had conducted drills for missile attacks on Taiwan in 1995 and 1996.

From July 21 to July 24, 1995, the PLA launched six DF-15 missiles from Jiangxi Province's Qianshan City, which traveled 481km before dropping into the sea 130km north of Taiwan, Liu said.

From March 8 to March 13, 1996, the PLA launched one DF-15 missile from Fujian Province's Nanping City, which traveled 500km and landed just 37km from Taiwan.
It also launched three DF-15 missiles from Yongan City that flew 460km before landing 55.5km from Kaohsiung City, Liu said.

"The two missile exercises proved that China's DF-series ballistic missiles, which have better accuracy, are able to effectively attack Taiwan's critical facilities and blockade the island," Liu said.

Liu said that while the 1995 missile drill was intended to bully Taiwan after former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) visit to the US, the 1996 drill was an attempt to influence that year's presidential election.

The ministry had said that the missile exercises had a profound influence on the country's defense preparations.

The military started to develop anti-missile warfare capabilities after the drills, and began developing the nation's own strategic missiles to deter China.