RE THE Feb. 1 Editorial Notebook "Panda politics in Taiwan": Taiwan is proud of its peaceful transition to a full-fledged democracy. To treasure the hard-won fruits of democracy, the government has worked to consolidate the democratic development, calling it transitional justice. The removal of the statues of Chiang Kai-shek, a symbol of the authoritarian past, is part of this transitional justice.
As to Taiwan's stagnant relationship with China, I fear that your article was one-sided in only quoting Ma Ying-jeou's statements blaming the current ruling party. While President Chen Shui-bian has handed out multiple olive branches, including three mini-links and charter flights between the two sides, China has refused to have any direct contact with Chen during his rule. Further, it continues to squeeze Taiwan internationally in an attempt to isolate the island and bend it to China's authoritarian dictates.
The future of Taiwan lies not with the orders and whims of authoritarians, past or present, but in the will of the 23 million free Taiwanese.
ALICE WANG
Director
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
Boston
TO AN outsider reading "Panda politics in Taiwan," it may seem that those so-called political games that Taiwan plays are senseless and petty. It is understandable that one would be confused about the country's recent name change and the decisions to reject pandas from China and to not have the Olympic torch stop in Taipei. Moreover, when Taiwan is mentioned in the media, it's usually about China's leaders claiming again that Taiwan is part of China, or about the US administration's castigating Taiwan's ruling party for making a provocative move to disturb the status quo.
So here are the simple facts: Taiwan is a country with a thriving democracy; it is the world's 16th-largest economy; it has only 23 allies in the world, and is not part of the UN, World Health Organization, and other major international bodies. The sad reality is that Taiwan must do everything it can to push back any encroachment from China and to ensure its survival and presence in the international community.
To use the former Chiang Kai-shek hall as a metaphor for Taiwan is to undermine what Taiwan has achieved and to overlook its complex situation.
EVA TSENG
Newton
