Article Refutes "Two States" Statement

A signed article refutes Lee Tenghui's "two states" statement claimed by Taiwan authorities to be a combination of continuity, pragmatism, and creativity.

Taiwan authorities claims that there has been no change in the island's policies towards the Chinese mainland, a claim even Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui himself might not believe in, says the article, written by Hong Fan.

The article notes that at the end of the 1980s, when Lee just assumed office, he emphasized that "One China is the supreme principle." By February 1991, Taiwan authorities began defining cross-Straits relations as "One China, two equal political entities."

After Lee redefined cross-Straits relations as "state-to-state" on July 9, some political dignitaries in Taiwan echoed this by claiming that the "two states" statement is "a major change in policies" and "just a beginning."

The article points out that Lee Teng-hui has been marching forward on the road of splittism, and that the "two states" statement only exposes the fact that Lee continues with separatism.

Lee's "two states" statement has aroused great indignation among Chinese worldwide, and has been criticized by many countries. Even pro-Taiwan U.S. congressmen said they could not support Taiwan's provocation, the article says.

Under the guidance of the "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems" principles, cross-Straits trade and personnel exchanges have been expanding, and political dialogues have been underway.

However, Lee's statement has cast a heavy shadow over relations across the Taiwan Straits. Stock markets in Taiwan have plunged and polls show a sharp decline in Lee's popular support in Taiwan.

"We see no pragmatism in Lee's statement, but rather the cheating side of the Taiwan authorities," the article says. They argued that the mainland treated Taiwan as "a renegade province," which forced them to respond with the "two states" statement. " This is purely nonsense," says the article.

Taiwan officials claim that in cross-Straits talks, the mainland belittled them with the concept of One China. "They are actually making a false charge," the article says.

"We have to admit the 'creativity' in Lee's 'two states' statement. Regrettably, Lee's desire is not to create happiness for the Taiwan people, but rather to bet the security and happiness of 21 million Taiwan people on this dangerous splittist game," it notes.

President Jiang Zemin said that under the principle of "One China," the two sides can talk about anything. But the Taiwan authorities argued recently that only when "two states" relations are defined, can the two sides do that.

This kind of creativity is tantamount to a formal declaration that the door to "peaceful reunification" has been closed. "We'd like to admonish Lee Teng-hui that it is in your best interests to restrain yourself in your perverse acts of 'creativity' and the abnormal inflation of careerism," the article concludes.