Change or Not, Lee Teng-hui's True Separatist Nature

Under strong criticism from Taiwan and the rest of the world for his "two states" remark, Lee Teng-hui has repeated that the Taiwan authorities have not changed their mainland policy, a point also echoed by Koo Chen-fu in his recent written speech.

But if it is true that the Taiwan authorities have not changed their mainland policy, why did Lee hastily make his "two-states" statement, which is only one step away from betraying the country and has greatly hurting the hearts of the Chinese people, said a Xinhua News Agency commentator on August 6.

The commentator said social practice is the standard by which to judge whether the policy is changed or not. Anyone who knows the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits can perceive that Lee Teng-hui kept changing the "one China" policy, running in the opposite direction.

However, Lee has not changed in his attempt to sperate Taiwan from China and create "two Chinas," as well as destroy the development of the cross-Straits relationship, said the commentator.

Lee definitely expressed a "one China" policy during the first news conference after he assumed office in February 1988. But he began to deviate from this principle in May 1990, when he said " one country, two governments are the reality."

In February 1991, Lee defined the relationship of the two sides of the Straits as "one China, two political entities." During a talk with Japanese writer Shiba Ryotaro at the end of March 1994, Lee said openly that he would build "a state of Taiwanese."

In a book published this May, Lee Teng-hui put forward the idea of separating China into seven parts. On July 9, he said that cross-Straits relations should be "state-to-state" or at least " special state-to-state relations."
This statement has unveiled his true separatist attempt. People can perceive that Lee has all along intended to abandon the "one China" principle.

The "two-states" remark is one step on Lee Teng-hui's separatist road, and it indicates a fundamental change in Taiwan authorities' "one China" principle, said the commentator.

The form of Lee's mainland policy and destruction of cross- Straits relations was changed somewhat, but his separatist nature has not changed. For a long time, Lee advocated a series of separatist ideas to damage cross-Straits economic and trade development, deny the exchange of postal service, trade, and air and shipping services, and control personnel exchange between the two sides of the Straits.

In brief, Lee's aim, attitude, stand and methods in interfering with cross-Straits relations have not changed for years, according to the commentator.

In recent years, Lee has supported "Taiwan independence" in the name of establishing "democratic politics." At the same time, he ganged up with anti-China forces in Western countries to realize " Taiwan independence."
Lee set his mind on adjusting military strategy and localizing the army. During the 11 years since Lee took office, his attempts to create an "independent country" have been constant, the commentator said.

Taiwan authorities have changed the content of the "one China" principle over and over again, and their mainland policy has been changed to bring about the separation of China.

The Taiwan issue has existed for 50 years, and all Chinese, including those in Taiwan, can distinguish who is developing cross- Straits relations and promoting the reunification of China, and who is destroying these efforts.

If the Taiwan authorities intend sincerely to promote the dialogue between the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchanges Foundation, it must abandon the separatist road with the "two- states" statement at its core, and maintain the "one China" principle, which is the political basis for the peaceful reunification of China, the commentator concluded.