At a recent Taiwan constitutional seminar, Lee Teng-hui pointed out that the Taiwan sovereignty question is an issue left over from WWII. Today the former President made further remarks, saying that "Taiwan is still an area under military occupation," and "Taiwan's sovereignty is not registered" . . . .
If the Pan-Greens can obtain more than 50% of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, they should not continue to say: "The Republic of China is Taiwan, and Taiwan is the Republic of China". He stressed that with such sloganeering "China will certainly make trouble every day", and hence concluded that it is too dangerous.
Lee Teng-hui was busy making personal appearances for his favorite candidates in the upcoming elections this morning, and used an afternoon tea break to talk to media reporters, discussing everything from agriculture to legal and political issues at the national level. In response to a reporter's inquiry, he also mentioned his concerns about the Taiwan sovereignty issue, and gave the summary statements as mentioned above. As for the question of how to resolve Taiwan's sovereignty dispute? He said that everyone should discuss it thoroughly, since for most people the complete comprehension of this problem might even take between six months to a year to fully understand.
In the International Symposium on a New Constitution for Taiwan the day before yesterday, when explaining the Taiwan sovereignty dispute, Lee Teng-hui put forward the views that at the end of WWII [1] the Allied handling of Taiwan was a "military takeover." Then after the San Francisco Peace Treaty (SFPT) formally ended the state of war, Taiwan was under "military administration" by the Allies. [2] However, as for further developments over the following years, the question remains: How should they be categorized?
In the afternoon tea break and media get-together today, a reporter asked Lee Teng-hui whether Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country. In reply, he asked: "Do you think so? No one will concede it!" He also posed the question, "Has it been admitted to the United Nations in the name of ‘Taiwan' ? "
Lee Teng-hui said, "Taiwan is still an area under military occupation." The foreign relations between two countries are similar to two companies doing business. Each company must first complete all necessary registration procedures, but for Taiwan, its "sovereignty is not registered."
He recalled that in 1991, Taiwan successfully entered the GATT, the predecessor of the WTO, under the title of the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu." However, he later raised a lot of controversy after advancing the "Special State to State Relationship" concept. [3]
Where is the problem? Something is wrong, everyone should discuss it, he said.
Lee Teng-hui said that he is confident that the Pan Green camp can win over half of the seats in the Legislative Yuan elections at the end of the year. With the green Legislators exceeding 50%, he believes that what will be most important is to no longer say "the Republic of China is Taiwan, and Taiwan is the Republic of China"; because in fact the People's Republic of China has inherited the Republic of China. If we continue saying that "the Republic of China is Taiwan," China will cause trouble every day."
Regarding the Taiwan sovereignty question, there are many and various views in the outside world. Lee Teng-hui described Taiwan as similar to being the role in the movie "Truman's World." If you listen to that lead actor carefully, you will know what his claim is.
[Excerpted from 
Daily, Nov. 30, 2004]
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