Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that China will never allow Taiwan to use democracy to achieve independence. He was speaking at the start of a four-day visit to the US. His words will come across as reactionary and repugnant. Imagine if Tony Blair said that the UK would never allow Northern Ireland to use democracy to decide its future, or the Israelis that they would never accept Palestinians voting for their freedom. There would be fury across the world at such tyranny, and the Chinese would join the chorus.This editorial is a great summation of the entire issue. The Chinese threats are repugnant and President Chen is trying to pull a political stunt to get reelected. That's why I say that the Chinese don't even understand democracy. If they did, they would laugh off President Chen's referendum and watch the Taiwanese people oust him of their own free accord.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
The Arab News & Taiwan
An editorial in yesterday's Arab News sees the parallel that I've been expecting to see in the Irish meda:
