Houston Chronicle

Viewpoints

March 11, 2005

LETTERS (Viewpoints)

China's 'anti-secession law'. Taiwanese are repulsed

Taiwanese-Americans in Houston are upset about the so-called "anti-secession law" that has been announced by the People's Republic of China. We are repulsed because Taiwan has never been part of the PRC. Furthermore, there is not a single international treaty that specifies Taiwan as part of China. Taiwan is an independent, sovereign state.

PRC's claim that Taiwan is part of the PRC is based on the fable that all Taiwanese are actually Chinese when, in reality, there is not one, but tens, if not hundreds, of minority groups in the PRC. And, there are many aboriginal groups in Taiwan with different languages, cultures and traditions from any of the people in the PRC. Furthermore, Taiwan's majority reject the totalitarian, aggressive and oppressive communist regime of China.

China is attempting to justify its oppression of its minorities and to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan. There can no longer be any ambiguity about what China really wants.

TOSI LIANG
president, Taiwanese Association of America,
Houston Chapter

A really bad neighbor

Can you imagine having a neighbor who hasn't any title to your property, but always hassles you and even threatens to take over your home by force? That's the scenario Taiwan is facing.

Communist China has never controlled Taiwan for a single day, but it keeps saying "Taiwan is a part of China."

Taiwan's people are protesting the People's Republic of China's "anti-secession law" and stand tall to safeguard the island at any price. China is a really being a bad neighbor.

EDDIE CHUANG
Houston

Excuse to tighten screws

The overwhelming majority of Taiwanese reject China's "one country, two systems" formula. Taiwan has never been a part of the PRC.

No doubt this "anti-secession law" is an excuse to tighten the screws on Taiwan and to challenge America's long-held position of maintaining the status quo. China has always been cynical of America's dominant presence in the Far East and our strong support for Taiwan's democracy. This could be an indication of more trouble to come.

We must tell China clearly that any attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait by force will have serious consequences. The United States should protect and support Taiwan's existing democracy because it is a thousand times easier to do that than to create a new one ? especially when the stability of the Far East is at such risk.

CARL KAO
Sugar Land