Thursday, March 15, 2012

VOTERS IN TAIWAN WARY ABOUT SHIFT TOWARD CHINA - MISSILES TARGET TAIWAN

 

2012 ELECTIONS: Wary of China, many Taiwanese hope for DPP win

 
VOTE FOR TAIWAN: Many voters in the south are worried about the government's hasty shift toward China, with some saying they see a need to protect national dignity
 
By Amber Wang  /  AFP, GREATER TAINAN
 

"I don't think we should open too much to China, which will want to have more control of Taiwan and eventually turn us into a second Hong Kong," she said, referring to the territory where British rule ended in 1997.

Interviews with voters in the south lay bare the unease that remains to this day.

Huang Li-chin, a rice distributor from a farming family in Tainan, criticized Beijing for "trying to buy its way into Taiwan people's hearts" while refusing to remove missiles targeting Taiwan.

"Taiwan may be small and weak and China may be rich and powerful, but we want to be our own masters and we don't want to become a province of China," she said.

Huang is among those dismayed by a 2008 incident when police prevented demonstrators from displaying Taiwan's national flag during a visit by a top Chinese official.

"If we don't have any dignity, it won't matter how much more money we can make from trade deals with China," she said ....

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/01/10/2003522881/1

 

No comments: