NEWS-Taiwanese have right to run th

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Subject: NEWS-Taiwanese have right to run their own race

THE NATION - September 23, 1999

Mailbag

Taiwanese have right to run their own race

THE well-intentioned gentleman who detailed the scenario for World War
III
had some good points, questionable statistics on destruction of cities,
lack
of knowledge regarding Taiwan's vastly superior armed forces, China's
feeble
navy and air force, the 100 miles of choppy seas between the two
nations,
the fortress like status of the other Taiwan islands that lay between
both
countries and the most glaring non-understanding of how a true democracy
and
free nation works.

He stated that the US would not let California or Washington state leave
the
country if they tried.

Guaranteed in the constitutions of the US, Canada and most other old
guard
nations of the west is the right for any state or province to secede
from
the nation. In the US, Californians often brag how they could leave the
union of states and survive quite well (California has the seventh
largest
economy in the world) if it weren't for the cost of water for which they
pay
taxes to other states for.

The territories of the US, like Guam and Puerto Rico, vote every 4-6
years
on becoming a state of the US, declaring nation status or remaining a
territory.

In Canada, the French province of Quebec holds a referendum every 3-5
years
about secession and declaring nationhood separate from Canada. In
England,
the areas of Scotland and Wales are now semi-autonomous with their own
parliaments. A similar status exists in Indian or native territories
throughout Canada, the US and France.

It's called freedom and the right to self determination. Taiwan has been
existing as a separate nation or republic for almost 50 years. The only
government on the planet unwilling to recognise this situation is China.
Because of the unwavering belief in this right by the Taiwanese people
and
the US, the US will always recognise one China but come to the defence
of
the other, Taiwan.

Support for Taiwan in the US Congress enjoys 90 per cent approval, and
while
no one wants to see a war, the people of Taiwan have the right (indeed
have
established a separate government already) to run their country the way
they
see fit without some blustery neighbour engaging in economic and
diplomatic
strangling of their way of life.

It's not the US causing problems, my friend, it's the old,
economy-headed-for-the-toilet, rural-and-ethnic-problem riddled backward
government trying to whip up nationalistic feelings about a land that
doesn't belong to them to avoid internal uprisings.

Mason

Bang Kalor, BANGKOK