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-DECEMBER, 1998- |
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Mainland told not to create talks obstacles
Monday December 28 1998
By Reuters
Taiwan has said there should be no pre-conditions for a new round of talks between Taipei and Beijing and urged the mainland not to create obstacles, island newspapers reported yesterday.
Shi Hwei-yow , secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, which handles talks with Beijing, said he hoped China's top negotiator on Taiwan, Wang Daohan , would visit the island early next year as planned.
"Wang Daohan's visit should not be attached to any condition. We don't want to see any people deliberately creating any obstacle," said Mr Shi.
Mr Shi's mainland counterpart, Tang Shubei , was reported on Saturday to have said Beijing would not send Mr Wang to Taipei until the island agreed to discuss reunification.
Mr Wang agreed to visit Taiwan at an "appropriate time" following a landmark visit to Beijing by Taiwan statesman Koo Chen-fu in October.
Mr Tang, vice-president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, said Mr Wang would not reciprocate Mr Koo's visit until sufficient preparations had been made on both sides. Mr Wang's trip would not be a simple tour, said Mr Tang.
Mr Koo, who heads the foundation, met Jiang Zemin to reopen talks frozen after China fired missiles towards Taiwan to intimidate the island ahead of its presidential election in 1996.
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Tung named 'an enemy of democracy'
Saturday December 26 1998
NIALL FRASER and CHEUNG YI
Tung Chee-hwa and his Government are "enemies of democracy", a human rights group claimed yesterday.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor said Mr Tung had led a march away from freedom towards big business' interests.
What it described as the rolling-back of democracy headed a list of the 10 most pressing human rights issues of 1998.
The group said Mr Tung and his Government had presided over an unfair May election which gave undue weight to the views of the influential business community.
They had also breached international rights conventions and tried to kill grassroots democracy by scrapping elected municipal councils and restoring the appointment system to the district boards, the group said.
The report said: "They have attacked democracy at the district level twice and they are the enemies of democracy."
Group director Law Yuk-kai said tycoon Li Ka-shing's comments that he might pull out of a $10 billion investment because of his worries about the political climate were ill-conceived.
"He may want to kill the chicken to get the eggs, which will give a return in the short term.
"But in the long term if you take away the channels for protest and grievances, the pressure will build and there will be instability and eventually a volcanic eruption," Mr Law said.
Official lack of action over racial discrimination came second on the list, followed closely by worries about the immunity from laws of mainland bodies and figures with close ties to the Chinese authorities.
The decisions by Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie not to prosecute Sing Tao Holdings chairwoman Sally Aw Sian over an alleged newspaper circulation fraud and Xinhua over its breach of the Privacy Ordinance, are given as examples.
Also high on the list is the erosion of the SAR's jurisdiction in criminal matters and the lack of protection for Hong Kong people on the mainland.
The report accuses the Government of using a "twisted" interpretation of China's criminal law, to justify its support of the mainland's right to try SAR residents.
Citing the cases of "Big Spender" Cheung Tze-keung and Telford Gardens fung shui murder suspect Li Yuhui, who will be tried there, the report says: "The Government has deliberately ignored the provisions of the Basic Law which excludes the applicability of national laws to Hong Kong and prohibits the Chinese authorities from usurping the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong judiciary in Hong Kong cases."
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Bureau said the claims that democracy and other rights had suffered since the handover were unfounded.
"Hong Kong has a very good record on human rights, one that is compatible with those in the most advanced countries," he said.
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Toe official line, media bosses told
Saturday December 26 1998
VIVIEN PIK-KWAN CHAN
Heads of state media were reminded yesterday to toe the official line as authorities moved for an across-the-board crackdown on dissident voices.
A circular urged media bosses to strengthen coverage of positive achievements under the present leadership and to avoid concentrating on "negative reports", including the misallocation of social resources.
"The state media are asked to carefully select analysis articles on the economic situation and political structural reforms," said a senior official of the State Press and Publications Bureau.
"It is not a total ban but selected articles have to be in line with the official tone."
The new guidelines also require state media to act to preserve stability as the country undergoes drastic reform. Groups are also ordered not to formulate their own comments on foreign leaders.
"It is forbidden to use unscreened materials obtained from the Web site," the official added.
Authorities will also intensify efforts to ban foreign political texts and pornography.
At a national conference on the press on Thursday, publishing houses were warned about the growing number churning out "reproduced foreign political publications", pornography and other illegal materials.
"At present, the illegal publication problem is still serious," the People's Daily quoted a report from the conference as saying.
"There has been an increase in the type and number of overseas publications with serious political problems," it said.
"Reproduction and sale of these works, especially in large and medium-sized cities, have become very apparent."
The official newspaper repeated the Government's line that social stability is crucial in 1999, the 50th anniversary of the founding of communist China and the return of Macau to Beijing's rule.
"If these problems are not resolved, they will seriously affect social order, harm the mental health of the youth, assail development of the publishing industry and lead to large economic and tax losses," the commentary said.
According to statistics released at the meeting, China has confiscated nearly 30 million illegally published books and periodicals since 1994.
It had also seized 35 million illegal audio-visual products, of which 300,000 were determined to have illegal political content.
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Jiang signals return to hard line
Thursday December 24 1998
President Jiang Zemin has signalled that Beijing will sustain a crackdown on dissent throughout next year.
In his second hardline speech in six days, Mr Jiang vowed to crush any challenges to Communist Party rule and preserve "social stability".
He demanded that officials "talk politics", a euphemism for following party orders.
The speech, to cadres attending the National Meeting on Political and Legal Work, used uncompromising language heard less frequently over the past 18 months as leaders sought to improve relations abroad.
Mr Jiang's harsh tone punctuated the summary trials and convictions for subversion this week of dissidents Wang Youcai , Qin Yongmin and Xu Wenli who tried to form the opposition China Democracy Party.
To underscore the Communist Party's intolerant mood, newspapers ran brief accounts on Tuesday and yesterday of the long prison terms given to the three. Dissidents are rarely mentioned by the media and the reports served as a warning.
In the speech, reported by state television, Mr Jiang said stability was crucial over the next year.
He noted two key events on the political calendar: the 50th anniversary of Communist Party rule on October 1 and Macau's handover on December 20.
"We must strengthen the ideological and political education of officials and raise their awareness of, and resistance to, the sabotaging acts of hostile domestic and foreign forces," China Central Television quoted Mr Jiang as saying.
"Whenever any element that undermines stability raises its head, it must be resolutely nipped in the bud."
Mr Jiang did not exclusively target political enemies. He likened their threat to that of white-collar and ordinary criminals and ticked off a list of potentially volatile problems - inefficient state industries, legions of laid-off workers, stagnating farmers' incomes and corrupt officials.
The emphasis on stability and warnings to those who would disrupt it were reminiscent of party pronouncements in the waning years of Mr Jiang's mentor, Deng Xiaoping .
Mr Jiang cited China's enhanced international stature, saying: "Our active developments of foreign affairs has reached new achievements."
But he made no reference to demands made by the country's intellectuals for pursuing international norms in political reform.
Senior cadres, including Premier Zhu Rongji and the Politburo member in charge of security, Wei Jianxing , also attended the meeting.
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Army, police join Jiang's dissent fight
Wednesday December 23 1998
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
Police and military forces have vowed to implement President Jiang Zemin's tough line on boosting party leadership and cracking down on dissent.
Party authorities have this week convened high-level meetings of cadres from the police, judicial and military fields.
Speaking at a conference on political and legal affairs, State Councillor Luo Gan pledged to use all means at the state's disposal to uphold political and social stability.
Mr Luo confirmed that the Strike Hard campaign would become a perennial exercise. However, in addition to criminals, underground organisations and other destabilising elements would also be targets of the campaign.
"Political and legal departments must fully develop their functions and use all their force to uphold social and political stability," national papers yesterday quoted Mr Luo as saying.
A protege of former premier Li Peng, Mr Luo is head of the party Central Committee's Leading Group on Political and Legal Affairs, the country's highest body on police and judicial matters. Despite the cutback in the civil service establishment, Mr Luo said the "political and legal brigades" would be strengthened. He called for particular attention on maintaining law and order in the countryside.
Analysts said while the Western media had reported large numbers of demonstrations by urban workers, Beijing was more worried about rural unrest, often unreported outside China.
Meanwhile, generals from different PLA units have held special gatherings to mark 20 years of reform.
Military strongman General Zhang Wannian said the best way to push reform forward was to "self-consciously follow the party's basic lines".
"In thoughts and politics, the entire army must remain in a high degree of unison with party central authorities with Jiang Zemin as its core," Xinhua quoted the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission as saying.
Party and military authorities have called on all units to study and biaotai (publicly air) their support for Mr Jiang's teachings on the meaning of reform.
Analysts said like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping , Mr Jiang was trying to consolidate his own power by orchestrating national rounds of biaotai.
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Stop debate on reforms, media told
Tuesday December 22 1998
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
Party authorities have asked the media to stop public discussion of political reform as part of a nationwide effort to promote stability.
Press sources said the order was given shortly before President Jiang Zemin's speech last Friday marking the 20th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's reforms.
"The media have been told to steer clear of the sensitive subject of the reform of the political structure," a Beijing source said.
"Sub-topics such as drafts of a proposed journalism law should also not be discussed."
Earlier, moderate cadres in the party's Central Committee and the legislature had pushed for an early enactment of a law on journalism, which might herald a relative degree of relaxation of censorship.
The national media is only allowed to touch "non-controversial political topics" such as ongoing campaigns against corruption and smuggling.
The source said the Politburo Standing Committee had come to a consensus on the need to stop the expression of divergent views at the recently held National Work Meeting on the Economy.
The meeting revealed problems of the economy, particularly social unrest which might be triggered by laid-off workers.
However, a Western diplomat in Beijing said the Politburo's decision to mothball political reform had met opposition among the intelligentsia.
A paper in the south was applauded by liberal cadres and intellectuals for running an interview with the former Guangdong leader Ren Zhongyi last week.
Mr Ren, a respected elder, was quoted as saying the nation would benefit immensely from a faster pace of political liberalisation.
At the same time, the media has been asked to dramatise ways and means introduced by Mr Jiang to minimise social instability and friction.
For example, the President has expressed personal concern that needy workers will get special help in the run-up to the Lunar New Year.
Units, including the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, are coming up with measures to ensure the livelihoods of unemployed workers.
The press is also encouraged to play up new laws and regulations on social security for labourers.
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Winter signals end of 'Beijing Spring'
By REUTERS
Monday December 21 1998
In a cramped apartment filled with cigarette smoke and noisy debate, artists and writers early this year began enjoying a flowering of political openness dubbed "Beijing Spring".
But spring has turned quickly to autumn, and now a winter freeze is on its way with the exile or detention of dissidents including Liu Nianchun and Xu Wenli .
On Saturday night, the 30 or so intellectuals who have turned up each week for a discussion "salon" in the apartment in Beijing's Asian Games Village held their last get-together.
The forum, once emblematic of an increasingly open atmosphere in the run-up to US President Bill Clinton's state visit in June, has fallen casualty to government orders to disband.
"We've been forced out of the building," said Peng Ming , head of the China Development New Strategy Institute, the think-tank that sponsored the discussions.
Landlords in the state-owned apartment building dispatched security personnel to evict Mr Peng, and warned they would block his attempts to set up elsewhere in Beijing.
"It could be several months before I can find a privately owned house and restart the forum," Mr Peng said, noting he had hosted more than 30 meetings since June with only minor harassment from police.
At Saturday's "salon", dissident Ren Wanding was in a despondent mood. Asked whether a crackdown on members of the Chinese Democracy Party would end with the trials of key members, the veteran activist said: "No".
"They're going to be very thorough about this. They want to wipe out the Chinese Democracy Party," he said.
Mr Ren lamented the brashness of his colleagues who now stand trial, saying their repeated attempts to officially register the party needlessly provoked top officials.
"They crossed a line that should have been apparent to them," said Mr Ren, adding that he had personally appealed to Xu, Wang Youcai and Qin Yongmin to ease confrontational postures against Beijing.
"I estimate they'll be imprisoned for 10 years each," he said.
Many activists believe the worst is to come, since next year is filled with politically sensitive anniversaries. The 10th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre is coming up, along with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic in October.
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Jiang's advisers in conflict over reform
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
Wednesday December 16 1998
Internal dissent has broken out in the Communist Party on whether to proceed with political reform, with President Jiang Zemin being offered conflicting advice.
Wang Daohan , a senior adviser to Mr Jiang, recently sent the President a memo saying reform of the political structure "cannot be postponed any longer".
Mr Wang, a former Shanghai mayor, said the freeze on reform could lead to paralysis of administration.
According to a Beijing source, the respected elder hinted that, without further reform, the ability of central authorities to run the vast party and government hierarchy might be called into doubt.
The source said another Jiang adviser from Shanghai, political scientist Wang Huning , also wrote a policy brief urging faster political reform.
Mr Wang said a start could be made by doing away with media censorship.
He also urged more thoroughgoing measures to cut the party and government bureaucracy.
However, the source said the President had shelved the ideas through fear of exacerbating social instability.
Moreover, senior politburo members including Li Peng and Ding Guan'gen had urged Mr Jiang to stick to a more cautious course.
A diplomatic source in Beijing quoted a politburo member as saying "political reform must not be abused" by the party's enemies.
"We must raise our guard lest the party's ruling status be jeopardised by misguided political reform," the senior cadre said.
In his speech on Friday, to mark the 20th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's reform, Mr Jiang would only salute the late patriarch's contributions to economic reform, the source said.
"Deng's ideas about political reform will hardly be mentioned by Jiang," the source added. Mr Jiang's publicists, however, are anxious to show the public the President has no prejudice against reform.
For the first time yesterday, Xinhua reported on how Mr Jiang cast his ballot in district-level elections to the municipal people's congress.
"President Jiang visited a downtown polling place in Beijing this morning to cast his vote in a local legislative election," Xinhua said.
Sources close to the national legislature said it was receiving letters each day from intellectuals calling for a faster pace of reform. The petitions had failed to persuade Mr Jiang to throw his weight behind liberalisation.
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By NISID HAJARI
DECEMBER 14, 1998 VOL. 152 NO. 23
The displeasure of Beijing is an old story to China's dissidents. In recent months many activists thought they saw a more relaxed line in a series of small leniencies--a call for human rights allowed here, a book of reformist essays published there. One of the more experienced among them also recognized that a backlash was possible, perhaps inevitable. He had already been arrested more than 10 times in his life, Wuhan-based campaigner Qin Yongmin told journalists in July. What was one more?
Last week he found out. On Monday night police in Wuhan arrested Qin for "threatening state security"--a crime that could land him behind bars for life. At the same time, agents searched the Beijing home of Xu Wenli--another prominent dissident active in the movement to register the opposition China Democracy Party (CDP)--and dragged the longtime activist off to a detention center. The same week police also formally charged Wang Youcai, one of the CDP's founders, in Hangzhou. Many found the timing of the crackdown odd, both because of the liberal signals given off by Beijing recently and because the government had signed the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in October. More jaded eyes, however, now view that brief period of tolerance as the true aberration. "What's surprising is that people like Xu have been able to go on for some while with these activities," says Sophia Woodman, Hong Kong-based research director of Human Rights in China. "China never said it was moving toward reform."
If authorities had any thought of signaling a new attitude, this week's 50th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights would have presented the ideal opportunity. Instead, the onset of the Dec. 10 commemoration may have prompted the wave of arrests: officials fear that the CDP may have had public activities planned, and the prospect of a string of upcoming, equally significant dates (including the 10th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre next June) only added to their anxiety. Since its inception in June, the CDP has attracted at least 500 public members across nine provinces and two major cities (including a Beijing-Tianjin chapter founded by Xu last month). Its undeclared numbers are far greater and--thanks in part to the spread of electronic mail--are growing at a rate that clearly makes hardliners uneasy.
That may have given conservatives an excuse to shed the relatively low profile they have maintained recently. Ex-Premier Li Peng returned to the spotlight a week before the arrests and only days before Chinese President Jiang Zemin embarked on a visit to Japan. In an interview with the German daily Handelsblatt, Li lashed out at the "boisterous chaos" of Western democracies and vowed that any group opposing the Communist Party "will not be allowed to exist." (At about that time, says Xu's wife He Xintong, security agents stepped up their surveillance of the dissident.) The CDP's charter carefully acknowledges the "leading role" of the Communist Party. But given the wellspring of potential discontent now furnished by China's unemployed millions, authorities have no tolerance for even a skeletal organized opposition.
The more moderate Jiang has lost some incentive to follow through with commitments like those mandated by the civil-rights covenant. After Tokyo refused to grant Jiang a written apology for wartime atrocities, his visit quickly degenerated into a public-relations disaster, with the Chinese President denouncing Japan's semi-official recidivism in every speech. The experience may have soured Beijing on the worth of international opinion, after months of trying to rebuild its reputation in the West. "It's a shame to see that frittered away for the purpose of silencing a small group of dissidents," says a Western diplomat. "It's ill-advised."
Such talk draws a swift and well-worn response: after the U.S. State Department lodged a protest, the Foreign Ministry retorted that the case was "part of China's internal affairs, and other countries have no right to interfere." The refrain indicates just how little has changed in Beijing. "We've been through this before," says one Chinese official. "We'll do what we have to do, regardless of what the Americans think or say." Dissidents now scoff at the idea that Beijing has made any sincere concession by signing the U.N. covenant, which allows for freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. According to Harvard lecturer Gao Xin, one of four intellectuals who staged a hunger strike just before the 1989 crackdown in Tiananmen Square, the recent period of calm was dictated only by the Party's need to gather evidence against CDP organizers. Media reports of a newfound openness in Beijing, say Gao, "misguided public opinion, which in turn forced the Party to return to its old ways."
Those ways are intimately familiar to both Xu and Qin, who between them have spent more than two decades in detention. "My bag is always packed and behind the door," Xu told TIME only weeks before his arrest. Police have informed Qin's father that his trial will begin in three months; He, who marches daily to the police station to ask for news of her husband, has heard nothing of his fate. Few of his supporters imagine it will entail a happy ending.
Reported by Maria Cheng/Hong Kong and Jaime A. FlorCruz and Mia Turner/Beijing
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Message Received
Sending e-mail is one of the charges hurled at Chinese activist Wang Youcai
By LORI REESE
DECEMBER 9, 1998
When Chinese ex-Premier Li Peng lashed out at the "boisterous chaos" of Western democracies two weeks ago, you can bet the party hard-liner had the nagging freedom of the Net at least partly in mind. Just ask Wang Youcai and Lin Hai, two people whose Internet-savvy has sent a challenging message to the capital. China is fighting back by using its old draconian laws to punish dissidents for new technological crimes. Both men have been accused of "threatening state security," a broad charge that gives the government great leeway in interpretation.
Wang Youcai will be the second activist tried in China on the charge of exchanging e-mail with overseas dissidents. Wang, 32, was arrested in a recent crackdown aimed at the country's fledgling opposition group the China Democratic Party (CDP) along with two other party organizers Xu Wenli and Qin Yongmin. Wang, named in the indictment as one of the CDP's founders, will face five charges for attempting to "incite the overthrow of state power" on December 17 in the eastern province of Zhejiang, according to Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights Democratic Movement in China.
Using e-mail to send "documents to overseas forces" is one of those five charges, says Frank Lu, chairman of the Information Center. His trial will begin 18 days after his arrest on November 30. The speed with which the court has acted indicates that Wang is sure to be found guilty, according to the Information Center. A conviction could result in a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment, the center says.
The indictment comes on the heels of the trial of Lin Hai, a software executive arrested for distributing some 30,000 Chinese e-mail addresses to an online network for overseas dissidents, Da Can Kao (Big Reference), which took place last Friday in a closed courtroom in Shanghai. Lin's trial ended after four hours, but the verdict will not arrive until next week, according to the Information Center. However his defense lawyer, Wang Wenjiang was quoted last week as saying, "I am afraid it doesn't look good for Lin Hai. I think he's going to be found guilty." Lin's wife, Xu Hong, appealed unsuccessfully for an open trial for her husband.
Despite its increased attention to online activities, China has yet to establish laws tailored specifically to Internet dissent, say local attorneys in contact with Da Can Kao. "There is no law that can be used to charge Lin Hai. The party is acting above the law," says Washington, D.C.-based editor Richard Long.
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By ANTHONY SPAETH
DECEMBER 7, 1998 VOL. 152 NO. 22
If all politics is local, as a grizzled American pol once observed, Chen Shui-bian should have no trouble getting reelected as mayor of Taipei. Over the last four years, Chen has shuttered the capital's sleazy massage parlors and brought down the crime rate. He has opened more parks. His administration is a marvel of efficiency and, most spectacularly, he has unclogged the city's gridlock with new rail lines and bus-only lanes. His approval rating: more than 70%.
But in Taiwan's new and vibrant democracy, local politics tends to transcend issues such as parks and bus lanes. If Chen, 47, wins reelection, he will emerge as the strongest contender for the republic's top job when President Lee Teng-hui completes his second and final term two years from now. The significance of that is not merely local or even islandwide, but global. Lee's Kuomintang (KMT), 53 years in power in Taiwan, favors ultimate unification with China, agreed upon between equals, once the mainland adopts democracy. By contrast, Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) campaigns for a separate if amicable relationship with the mainland. The prospect of a DPP-governed Taiwan provokes jitters in Beijing--which is why Chen says he "feels honored" by media suggestions that he is the individual "most feared" by China.
The neck-and-neck race between Chen and Ma Ying-jeou, 48, a charismatic former Justice Minister in the KMT government, is just one of many key battles in this week's voting. The DPP is also challenging the mayoralty of Kaohsiung, the island's second-largest city. And 225 seats are up for grabs in the main parliamentary body, the Legislative Yuan. If the opposition does well, the KMT could lose its thin majority, possibly propelling Taiwan into an era of fractious politics and coalition governments. "These elections will impact Taiwan's direction in the 21st century," predicts Inge Chen, a professor of finance and law at Christian Chung Yuan University. "In relations with China, they will influence the next step, as in a game of chess."
Mayor Chen notes that many people are viewing the Taipei race as a "dress rehearsal" for the presidential election. He seems ready, having earned a reputation as one of the island's foremost heroes in the struggle for democracy. In 1980, the former maritime lawyer helped defend eight activists accused of sedition. After Chen lost a seat on Tainan's city council in 1981, his wife, Wu Shu-chen, was hit by a truck; she is permanently disabled. While Chen spent eight months in jail in the mid-1980s for publishing controversial articles, Wu was elected to the Legislative Yuan on a sympathy vote. He took over her seat three years later. In 1994 he became Taipei's first non-KMT mayor in a generation.
Challenger Ma is no less admired. Born in Hong Kong to parents from the mainland and educated at Harvard Law School, he has a shaky command of the Taiwanese dialect and his resume is largely made up of appointments from on high. But as Justice Minister in the mid-1990s, Ma combated corruption, winning popular support while making numerous enemies in the KMT establishment. He resigned last year, announcing that he no longer knew "what to fight for or whom to fight for"--a comment that irritated President Lee, according to insiders. The handsome politician is supported by voters scared of the DPP's pro-independence stance and those who admire him for standing up to Lee. Ma has been leading in opinion polls, though Chen draws larger crowds and is striking back hard, reminding voters that in the mid-1990s Ma publicly opposed direct presidential elections. Many opposition supporters, in a carryover from martial-law days, are wary of admitting their leanings to pollsters.
If Chen is reelected, he insists, he won't abandon the mayoralty for a presidential bid. But two years is a long time in politics. (If Ma wins, he will likely not be the KMT candidate to succeed Lee; other possibles are Vice President Lien Chan and Taiwan provincial Governor James Soong.) Thus, Taipei voters are evaluating the candidates not merely on competence and cleanness, but on how they might deal with the mainland. The labels can be misleading, and China's reaction is fluid. The KMT has abandoned its demand that China be reunified under its control. Now, it argues that China is a divided country made up of two equally legitimate political entities. Reunification would be a long-term process of trust-building contacts, commerce and negotiations. Ma says Chen's pro-independence stance is risky to "regional security and stability." Chen, for his part, insists the people of Taiwan, unlike those of Hong Kong, should "have the final right to decide their own destiny." But he also accepts the need to negotiate with Beijing. The distinction sounds subtle to an outsider, but not to Chen. "There definitely would be a major difference for cross-strait relations if I win," he says--a campaign promise that neither Taiwan nor the mainland is likely to ignore.
Reported by Don Shapiro/Taipei
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Democracy 'the goal of Chinese everywhere'
WILLY WO-LAP LAM in Taipei
Saturday December 5 1998
A senior official has expressed hope that the Taiwan model of democracy will "benefit all Chinese".
Speaking about today's elections, Vice-Premier Liu Chao-shiuan said Taipei was not using democratic experiments as a strategy in its struggle with the mainland.
"Democracy is a world current and it is also something which Chinese everywhere want," Mr Liu told a group of Hong Kong journalists yesterday. "We want more exchange with the mainland so that the experience of democracy can be shared between both sides."
Mr Liu would not be drawn into commenting on media reports that the re-election of Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian , leader of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), would bring about instability because of a possible over-reaction from Beijing.
"As a senior official, I can't comment on individual candidates," he said.
"But it is a fact that some people in Taiwan have such concerns [about Mr Chen]."
The Vice-Premier denied that the slogan recently raised by President Lee Teng-hui - "be a new Taiwanese" - had pro-independence overtones.
Mr Liu said he hoped the visit to Taiwan by chief mainland negotiator Wang Daohan , scheduled for next spring, would help improve the atmosphere across the Taiwan Strait.
"I hope Wang's visit will help clarify certain issues in Taiwan-mainland relations."
Mr Liu, who spent most of his career in education and high technology, said whether he would visit the mainland depended on improved ties, a better atmosphere and "Taiwan's overall mainland policy".
He pointed out, however, there was plenty of room for co-operation between Taiwan and the mainland on hi-tech developments.
"High technology is being globalised in the 21st century," he said. "There will be more competition but also opportunities for co-operation."
He said even rival computer companies from countries including the United States, Germany and Japan had joined forces to develop new technology.
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