Lee warned of independence agenda
Wu YixueChina Daily  Updated: 2004-07-03 11:17

Former Taiwan "president" Lee Teng-hui has never attempted to hide his design to seek Taiwan independence.

On Thursday, he spearheaded a private and non-governmental campaign to create a new constitution for the island.

At the inauguration ceremony of the campaign, named "Action for a Taiwanese Constitution," organized by the Hand-in-hand Taiwan Alliance and held at Taipei's Grand Hotel, Lee trumpeted to hundreds of his disciples and other pro-independence figures that the new constitution should not contain the term the "Republic of China" (ROC) but should assert Taiwan's "sovereignty" as a normal "country."

The alliance, with Lee acting as its general convener, is a non-governmental group composed of pro-independence Taiwanese who are devoted to separating Taiwan from China and establishing an independent Taiwan state.

While up on his soapbox, Lee claimed that the creation of the new constitution, which must clearly define the island's "national" status, would help the people of Taiwan build an independent and sovereign "country" of their own.

He said the ROC stopped having a say in Taiwan on October 25, 1971, the day the United Nations outlawed the ROC's status of representing China in the world body. Thus, he argued that it was neither fit to continue using the ROC Constitution in Taiwan nor fit to have the term the "ROC" in the new constitution.

It seems Lee is not completely ignorant of international law. However, he should also clearly know that the change of the country's regime, which took place in 1949, cannot be used as excuse to claim independence. Taiwan has been part of China since ancient times.

The creation of a new constitution in Taiwan, no matter if it is Lee's version or that of his political successor Chen Shui-bian, is no less than a definite schedule for independence.

Lee and Chen have not been subtle in their eagerness to see a new constitution drafted in 2006, ratified through a national referendum in 2007 and enacted in 2008.

However, Lee's attempts to cook up legal grounds for his moves toward splitting Taiwan from China are totally illegal.

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