Chinese Scholars Refute Lee Teng-hui's Splittist Remarks

BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) stressed here today that Lee Teng-hui's plot to separate Taiwan from China and split China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is doomed to failure.

The scholars said at a forum that Lee has taken a very dangerous step by stating that cross-straits relations are "state- to-state", which exposes his true intention of denying the "one China" principle.

They said that Lee's splittist remarks have seriously distorted historical facts, and are absurdly groundless.
Zhu Weidong, a research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of CASS, noted that the People's Republic of China has long been accepted and recognized by the international community as the sole legal government of China, and naturally has the legal right to exert sovereignty over Taiwan.

Yu Heping, a research fellow at the Institute of Modern Chinese History, said that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and this has been firmly rooted in the minds of the Chinese people since the very beginning of Chinese history. The ownership of the island province has long been beyond dispute, he stressed.

The scholars present at the forum held that Lee has misjudged the international situation. His evil intention of splitting the motherland by relying on foreign forces is doomed to failure.

They said that Lee's splittist remarks have been strongly criticized and condemned by the entire Chinese people. The international community has widely reaffirmed the "one China" principle.

Lee and his followers will become sinners against the Chinese nation if they do not stop at the brink of the precipice and immediately return to the "one China" principle, the scholars said.