Letter to the editor

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

July 1, 2001

CHINA JUST WANTS TO TAKE OVER

Instead of spending most of his column justifying the glories of China's "one country, two systems" approach to Hong Kong and setting it as a model Taiwan should accept, Richard Foster should have explored Emily Lau's statement that the Taiwanese "are smart enough not to take that deal." ("Hong Kong an example of the possibility of unified China," June 24).

If Foster had done so, he would have juxtaposed quotes from Willy Lo-Lap Lam with those of Robert Keatley of the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and Emily Lau's colleague, Martin Lee of the Democratic Party, with China's hand picked Tung Chee Hwa. Lam would have explained why he resigned from the South China Morning Post because of China's gradual strangulation of freedom of the press. Lee would have detailed the progressive deterioration in the Hong Kong people's democratic rights under China's "guidance."

Having fought for more than a century to establish a human rights respecting democracy, the people of Taiwan are not about to accept China's smothering embrace. More importantly, China has no valid claim to Taiwan. In 1895, Chinese authorities handed over Taiwan "in perpetuity" to Japan. At the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, Japan renounced all title and claims to Taiwan, but did not name a recipient.

More to the point, the premise of "one country, two systems" is illegitimate based on the consensus of Taiwanese. The use of the word "reunification" should be replaced with "annexation" to describe China's ambition to take over Taiwan.

Leon Tseng

New Berlin