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Britain handed over Hong Kong to China. China is taking advantage of this
occasion to equate Taiwan to Hong Kong and to lay false claims to Taiwan. To
counter China's effort to sow confusion in the minds of the world community, we
reiterate the following facts:
- Taiwan was ceded in perpetuity by international Treaty
-- the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki. The future of Taiwan is therefore not a
Chinese matter. Hong Kong, on the other hand, was leased to Britain. Takeover
of Hong Kong by China may be considered reversion. An attempt by China to take
over Taiwan can only be viewed as annexation or invasion, and therefore boils
down to Chinese neo-imperialism.
- The Communist government in China has never had sovereignty over Taiwan,
even for a single day. China has no legitimate right to any claim over Taiwan.
- Taiwan has a defined territory, a peace-loving population and a hard-earned
democratic political system. Taiwan has been a de facto
sovereign nation for decades. Taiwan now has a democratically elected
president and is moving inexorably towards de jure independence.
The future of Taiwan is for the Taiwanese people to decide, not for China to
dictate.
- China has committed major offenses in the international arena. Nobody
should wish Chinese annexation upon Taiwan. Some of China's offenses are
enumerated below:
- Gross human rights violation. No end of these abuses is in sight. In
fact, the Clinton Administration recently acknowledged that it's policy of
engagement has not yielded any improvement in China's record on human rights.
- Brutal occupation of Tibet and annihilation of Tibetan culture. China
invaded Tibet in 1949 and has occupied it since. Killing of Tibetan people,
destruction of numerous monasteries and large-scale immigration of Han Chinese
are driving the Tibetan culture rapidly toward extinction.
- Arms sales to rogue nations. China continues to sell missiles and
technology to regions of the world that are unstable.
- Suppression of Eastern Turkestan. China oppresses the Islamic Uighur
minority in the western reaches of China. In February, 1997, China squelched
an uprising in Gulija and denied site access to the international press.
- Threats to Taiwan. In the spring of 1996, China conducted live
ammunition military exercises and fired guided missiles off the coast of
Taiwan. This Chinese provocation was aimed to thwart the Taiwan independence
movement by intimidating the Taiwanese people from voting in their first-ever
direct presidential election.
- Strangling of civil liberties in Hong Kong. Even before its official
takeover of Hong Kong, China has made it known that civil liberties enjoyed by
the residents there will be sharply curtailed. This does not bode well for
freedom and democracy of Hong Kong.
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