Mar 2, 2007, 8:59 GMT
Taipei - Selections by topic of the exclusive interview by Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa with Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian:
On cross-Strait relations and independence:
'In response to our high expectations for peaceful dialogue with China, China responded with the deployment of missiles and also the passage of the anti-secession law. China does not recognize Taiwan to be an independent, sovereign country. Moreover, it treats Taiwan as its local government. In the foreseeable future, I don't think that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will go for unification. Quite the contrary, it is very likely that the actions taken by Beijing authorities will force the people of Taiwan to take more actions toward further independence.'
'It is very clear that Beijing has always taken a very hostile posture toward Taiwan since it has never agreed to renounce the use of force against Taiwan. Moreover, it has also passed the so-called anti-secession law in order to lay a legal foundation for a future military invasion of Taiwan.
'When we look at the missiles that China has deployed along its south-east coast: Back in the year 2000, the number of missiles was 200. Now the number of missiles has amounted to 988. And these are truly provocative gestures that China has posed toward Taiwan. Moreover, it is also extremely destabilizing for the Asia-Pacific region in terms of the maintenance of peace, security and stability.'
'Instead of a peaceful emergence of China, as it claims, we see it as a military emergence of China.'
'In the face of a long-term military intimidation plus the suppression in the diplomatic arena internationally in addition to the United Front tactics employed by China in cross-Strait trade and economic relations, it has made Taiwan people more and more aware of their own national identity. Moreover, it has prompted the people to be more persistent on adopting a Taiwan-centric consciousness.'
On help from the United States and Japan in case of war:
'First of all, we have to rely on ourselves. ... If you only rely on others to defend your side or your country, you are bound to be defeated.'
'The US is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act, and, therefore, it is obligated to help Taiwan to enhance its self-defence capabilities and also help Taiwan to defend itself.
'We appreciate the US government's approval of US arms sales to Taiwan in order to enhance and improve our national defence capabilities. We also appreciate very much that ... the US and Japan in February 2005 included the Taiwan issue as a common strategic objective of the two countries. ... We know, of course, there is the existence of the security pact between the US and Japan, and it has also incorporated the so-called situations in the surrounding sea into this security pact and also extended the surrounding sea to the Taiwan Strait and the sea surrounding Taiwan.
'We also appreciate the US and Japan urging the EU not to lift the arms embargo against China. We think that Taiwan not only shares the common and universal values with the US and Japan - we call this an alliance of values - we are also the best partner in terms of security with the US and Japan. Even though there is not the existence of formal diplomatic ties between Taiwan and Japan and Taiwan and the US, but in terms of military exchange and cooperation, we have had very intensive interactions.'
On economic dependency from China:
'Indeed, Taiwan's economy is tilting toward China, gradually becoming overdependent on the Chinese market. This is indeed a great risk that we are likely to face, and we have to be very cautious about this. But actually, when the two sides have more exchanges in terms of economy and trade, China also begins to become dependent on Taiwan in certain aspects. China wants to use its business influence to play more roles in terms of manoeuvring and influencing our politics, but the Taiwan businessmen are also becoming more influential in China.'
'We certainly would not see it as our only destination, our only market for Taiwan or our last hope. It is only one of our very important markets in our strategy to deeply cultivate Taiwan, mapping out and reaching out to the world. ... Taiwan would certainly not place its economic lifeline and all of our economic resources on the Chinese market only.'
On democracy and Asian values:
'Democracy is part of the universal values. It should not heed the boundary of West or East or Europe or Asia. At least you can see Taiwan is the best example and rebuttal for such a myth that Asian values can not co-exist with democracy. ... If you look at Japan, they also have democracy. It is not true that democracy would not work in Asia. ... We can't say democracy does not fit to Asia just because China cannot implement full democracy. If you look at the history of Taiwan, you will notice for over half a century, Taiwan was under authoritarian rule, and the dictators in the past have also rejected democracy.
'In Taiwan, we have seen long-term martial law, for 38 years. ... In the past, whenever we tried to promote democratic reform, the authoritarian regime always replied with, 'Democracy does not fit in our culture and customs.' ...We have proven to the world that democracy works in Taiwan, and we think democracy would work in China, too. We believe that Taiwan's democracy is a success story and Taiwan's democracy also serves as the best missile defence for Taiwan. Taiwan's success in democracy also is a lighthouse to the 1.3 billion people of China.'
On corruption charges against him:
'Currently, the state affairs funds case is under trial, and we fully respect the judicial process. And as I have said many time before, not a penny of the state affairs fund has gone into a private pocket. All of this money has been used to conduct confidential diplomatic work or state affairs.
'Regarding the special allowances case, the former chairman of the Kuomintang [KMT], Ma Ying-jeou, has been charged with corruption, and I believe the court will very soon start the trial. The prosecutors have pointed out that Mr Ma Ying-jeou has put his special allowance into his private pocket. We don't know what the truth is, but we know that Mr Ma Ying-jeou will face the trial and judicial process.
'But according to Article 52, the president has this criminal exemption, and also according to the constitution, he also has the privilege and right to conduct confidential state affairs. ... I am fully confident of my innocence, and I am positive and certain that history will clear my name and that our judiciary will restore my reputation.'
About his legacy:
'In the year 2000, we had this historic event of seeing the first ever peaceful transfer of power and alteration of the political party in power, and there was no shedding of blood - there was not any kind of violence that occurred during the process. ... Moreover, if we look at what happened last year, our judiciary is able to issue subpoenas to the family members of the president or even detain a suspect who is a family member of the president. That signifies the price of Taiwan becoming a country that truly abides by the rule of law, and this is also a valuable asset that we have earned.
'At the latter half of last year, we saw the so-called red-shirt army staging many protests on the streets. And I think without the maturity of the people of Taiwan in terms of embracing democratic values and the principles of democracy and without the fact that we have made a lot of efforts in building up a truly nationalized army that is not controlled by any individual or political party, that truly belongs to the people, I don't think those protests staged by the red-shirt army could have seen a peaceful ending.
'I think the noises and chaos after the presidential election in 2004 and also the protests staged by the red-shirt army last year posed the biggest tests to Taiwan's democracy. But we have passed these very severe tests, and we can say that now we are a country that truly enjoys democracy, freedom and the rule of law.'
'In the year 2003, we passed our first ever referendum act, and in 2004, we held our first ever national referendum, and in the year 2005, we have incorporated the right of referendum into our constitution, and in 2006, my government seized the function of the national unification council and seized the application of the national unification guidelines. This means that we no longer limit the choice of our people regarding our future to the ultimate unification. And regarding Taiwan's future and the future relations between the two sides of the strait, we leave the choices open to our 23 million people. They could choose according to their free will.
'Before the year 2000, before I became president of Taiwan, both Taiwan and China held the view of the existence of one China, but after the alteration of the political party in power here in Taiwan, we took pride in saying that more countries and more people in the world now understand that Taiwan is very different from China and that Taiwan and China are two separate entities and two separate countries and across the Taiwan strait there is one country on each side.'
On his successor:
'It is very unlikely that the president will come from KMT, and it is very unlikely that it will be Ma Ying-jeou. We believe that the next person sitting in this chair will be someone from our party, the Democratic Progressive Party. And who will be the one from DPP? I don't know, but I am sure that this person will be from the DPP.'
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