TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), who is running as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate, on Sunday (Sept. 10) rejected a peace plan proposal by Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) as unviable given the “misery” seen in Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet.
During a speech given to his supporters in Kaohsiung on Sunday, without mentioning Gou by name, Lai said “some candidates” during this election campaign have proposed signing a peace agreement with China, reported CNA. Lai countered that, “If peace agreements (with China) were effective, Tibet would not be so miserable.”
Lai was alluding to the Seventeen Point Agreement, which was signed between China and Tibet in 1951 and included pledges such as Beijing promising to “not alter the existing political system in Tibet.” The Dalai Lama in 1959 repudiated the agreement as being signed under duress and the Tibet government-in-exile says that China has failed to honor many of these pledges.
Again referring to Gou, Lai said some candidates want to achieve peace by relinquishing sovereignty. He then said, “Peace without sovereignty is a false peace. If peace without sovereignty can lead to peace, Hong Kong and Macau would not be so miserable.”
The U.K. handed over Hong Kong to China in 1997 under the “one country, two systems” principle in which Hong Kong was to maintain its economic and administrative system for 50 years. However, many international observers and human rights organizations accuse China of eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy through repressive measures such as the draconian Hong Kong national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.
“Some people may ask, can democracy be used as food? I would like to say that without democracy, we would not be able to eat as we do now,” said Lai. He emphasized the importance of “protecting democracy” and said that only with democracy can there be freedom and only with freedom can there be civil rights and the protection of businesses and individuals.
Lai said that Taiwan’s democracy is the result of the hard work of many people. He said this election is reaching a crossroads: “We must decide whether we want to bravely continue down the path of democracy, or do we want to backtrack and return to an authoritarian system because we are intimated by totalitarian systems? This is our primary choice.”
Lai said, “We will never accept communism’s use of war as a threat to elect the regime it wants.” He then called on the Taiwanese not to backtrack and take charge themselves to ensure that democracy can continue forward.
Lai said that “peace does not fall from the sky.” He said in the past, Taiwanese worked hard for democracy and they must continue to fight for peace in the future.
Defending peace requires strength, said Lai. In order to defend the peace, Lai pointed out that countries all over the world continue to increase their defense budgets to protect their nations.
He argued that Taiwan must unite to safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait, the Indo-Pacific, and the world. “Taiwan is not alone in facing totalitarian threats, and there is no need to be afraid when standing together with the democratic camp,” said Lai.
