Taiwan Has Been Reborn as a ‘New Republic,’ Ex-Leader Says

Taiwan must boldly declare itself a sovereign nation or risk being taken over by China, outspoken former President Lee Teng-hui writes in a new book.

With its full-blown democracy, Taiwan has been reborn as a “new republic” and is not a province controlled by China, Lee writes in “Asia’s Strategy,” according to excerpts published Friday by the Liberty Times newspaper. Taiwan “has emerged a new republic,” Lee writes. “As to who will clearly make such a declaration and at what time, I still don’t know.

“But it is a step we must take for the sake of Taiwan’s future.

“I was worried that the succeeding President Chen Shui-bian might not continue to push forward this task,” Lee writes. “There might be difficulties. But, I believe he will continue to do it.”

Chen, Lee’s successor, was a former vocal supporter of formal independence. Since taking office, he has taken a conciliatory stance.

Lee, who retired in May after 12 years in office, had enraged Beijing by declaring that Taiwan and China have “special state-to-state relations.”

China and Taiwan have been at odds over the island’s political status since they split amid a civil war in 1949. Beijing sees Taiwan as a renegade province.

The publication of the book’s excerpts raised questions about whether Lee is trying to pressure Chen into continuing the campaign for Taiwan’s separate status.

In the book, written in Japanese and to be marketed in Japan next week, Lee says that although Taiwan had long been controlled by alien regimes, first by Japan as colonial ruler and later the Nationalists from the mainland, it developed into a sovereign country after a decade of democratization.