XDPP HOLDS PARTY
 REFORM May 2006
CONFERENCE.....….….1

XDPP SURVEY ON
PRESIDENT CHEN’S
OVERSEAS

TRIP............………....3

XCHINESE BULLYING HAS

GOT TO
STOP !........................4

democracy


&
 XDPP PAYS HOMAGE TO
TAIWAN’S FORGOTTEN
HERO..........................5

A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY DPP’S

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
progress
DPP holds party reform conference

On May 7, the Democratic Progressive Party held its Conference on Party Reform, drawing together party members
and government officials to discuss the DPP’s direction. Premier Su Tseng-chang, former Chairman Frank Hsieh and
Chairman Yu Shyi-kun served as moderators. The conference covered issues regarding the DPP's core values, its public
image, the development of the DPP's central and local organizations and its endorsement system for participating in
elections.
continued on page 2
2 DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

DEMOCRACY &
PROGRESS
Department of International
Affairs
Democratic Progressive Party
8F, No. 30, Pei-Ping East Rd.
Taipei, Taiwan
t. 886-2-23929989 ext. 305
f. 886-2-23214527
e-mail: foreign@dpp.org.tw
web: http://www.dpp.org.tw

Director, International
Department: Winston Dang

Deputy Director:
Huai-hui Hsieh

Editor-in-Chief:
Michael Fonte

Editor:
Ping-Ya Hsu

Conference on party reform (continued)

The conference was opened to the public, and the DPP Headquarters plans
to take the conclusions of this conference as a reference for future development.
Chairman Yu said that the conference aims to collect suggestions from the
public and our grassroots members. The self-reflection that follows will serve as
the incentive for party reform.
Concerning the issue of the flagging public image of the party, Yu said that
in order to maintain the integrity of the party, the current party focus will be to
promote the “New Sunshine Politics Movement”. The movement includes the
Committee against Corruption and an integrity agreement to be signed by all
legislators.
Yu said that the Central Standing Committee (CSC), by consensus, serves
as the platform for communications between party officials. Now the CSC will
expand from 15 to 21 seats, adding three representatives from the Executive
Yuan, two party officials, and one from local governments, so as to make the
best use of consensus in party politics. Other issues such as the evaluation
mechanism for local branches and qualification of Central Review Committee
members would also be actively implemented.
The problem of members in name only was also one of the key issues in
the conference. The DPP also planned to organize its members through group
trainings, so that they could gain self-consciousness and critical thinking ability,
instead of being mere fake members who have always been targets of criticism.
Chairman Yu indicated that the DPP endorsement system is, in effect, the
best solution so far. Other parties, including the KMT, have been trying to
imitate this system. Yu also said that the party has set up a research group for
the DPP’s endorsement system, which would draft a better nomination
mechanism in order to establish a long-lasting system.
3 DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

DPP Survey on President Chen’s Overseas Trip

Date：May 11, 2006
Sampling Number：746
Sampling Error：± 3.7 %, 95% confidence level
Target Group：Eligible voters above age 20
Method：Telephone, random
Selection Method：Age, gender, registered household address
* Age, gender and household registration address are from the Ministry of the Interior’s 2005 statistical data.

1. Did President Chen’s most recent trip help raise Taiwan’s international visibility?
Yes: 45.4%
No: 43.6%
No Opinion: 11%

2. In President Chen’s most recent overseas trip, the United States did not give consent for the
President’s chartered plane to land on the U.S. mainland. Do you believe the U.S. handled
this situation appropriately or not appropriately?
Appropriately: 19.8%
Not Appropriately: 62.8%
No Opinion: 11%

3. President Chen chose other countries for his transit. Many people say, “President Chen was
acting rashly” while others say, “President Chen was manifesting Taiwan’s sovereignty, and
that he was defending the country’s dignity”. Which one of these two sayings do you agree
with?
President Chen behaved rashly: 43%
President Chen was manifesting Taiwan’s sovereignty: 43.6%
No Opinion: 13.4%

4. People say, “A president represents the country, symbolizes the country’s sovereignty and
dignity. Therefore, the people should not be divided politically in supporting the president in
international affairs”. Do you agree with this statement?
Yes: 66.4%
No: 27.1%
No Opinion: 6.5%

5. People say, “Under circumstances where China bullies Taiwan and Taiwan’s international
space is limited, the President should break international conventions in order to break
through diplomatic difficulty”. Do you agree with this statement?
Yes: 71.6%
No: 20.7%
No Opinion: 7.6%

6. During his recent overseas trip, President Chen chose to transit and make visits through
non-allied diplomatic countries. Do you believe that the objective of breaking through
diplomatic difficulty was achieved?
Yes: 43.1%
No: 47.3%
No Opinion: 9.6%
 4 DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS

Chinese Bullying has got to stop!

For many years, China and Taiwan have had their differences over political ideology and over the issues of
sovereignty, peace and security. Nevertheless, these differences must be resolved through peaceful dialogue and
consultation between both sides of the Strait. Squeezing Taiwan’s international space is not going to make the situation
better, and it is time that the bullying is put to a stop.
Taiwanese government officials, members of NGOs, rescue teams, and other related agencies, all must face
spying, intimidation, and bullying from Chinese embassy representatives in the countries that Taiwanese hope to visit
for the purpose of establishing cultural, educational and political exchanges or to take part in emergency rescue efforts.
Furthermore, Chinese embassy representatives, including the ambassador, call government officials or conference
organizers from those countries to make demands against Taiwan. The demands are always the same, which are: no
granting of visas to Taiwanese, no Taiwanese officials can speak on stage, no displaying of promotional materials from
Taiwan, no private meetings between high-ranking officials, and even more devastating, no humanitarian assistance
from Taiwanese specialists to those in need. Chinese officials intimidate other countries, almost threateningly, by
brandishing sticks to those governments or officials who favor Taiwan, and carrots to those who are less favorable.
The DPP has had to face this bullying frequently because Chinese officials refuse to talk to the DPP
government. Each time DPP officials hope to attend a conference in another country or pay country visits for political
party exchanges, the bullying from China starts from day one. Some political parties are in the ruling government, and
sometimes feel compelled to bend to Chinese pressure.
Just last month, the DPP attended a conference hosted by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD),
of which the DPP is a founding member, and one of the major political parties in Cambodia. Cambodian party officials
reported that they had received calls from the Chinese ambassador in Phnom Phen demanding that the host party
forbid DPP officials from participating. At the end of this month, Taiwan is trying for the tenth time to enter the World
Health Organization (WHO), and so far, the only country that stands opposed to Taiwan’s entry is China despite Japan
and U.S. affirmative support to Taiwan’s entry.

The DPP participated

this month in a
conference organized
by the Council of
Asian Liberals and
Democrats on
overseas development
assistance and public
accountability in Siem
Reap, Cambodia

While it is understandable that this international tug-of-war started due to past KMT foreign competition with
China over diplomatic allies and their belief that “One China” equals the Republic of China, China’s behavior today is
unacceptable and cruel. In October 2005, Taiwan was prepared to send its earthquake emergency response team to
Pakistan, and, despite the need, Pakistan was forced to refuse Taiwan’s assistance so that China wouldn’t be upset.
It is very common for traditional Chinese to use this tool to gain certain leverage for their beliefs, but this type of
attitude is neither desirable nor tolerable in today’s Asia. It is also regrettable that countries or organizations bend
themselves to Chinese pressure.
The DPP hopes that China works on its own merits to achieve what they hope to achieve internationally, and
leave Taiwan to conduct its own international objectives. It is time for China to act responsibly and maturely, and stop
behaving like the schoolyard bully.
5 DEMOCRACY & PROGRESS
DPP pays homage to Taiwan’s
forgotten hero
May 10, 2006 was the fifteenth anniversary of the
passing of Fu Cheng, one of the eighteen founding
members of the Democratic Progressive Party.
With red roses in hand, DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun,
along with party officials, visited Fu’s grave to pay their
homage. Founding members Chen Chu, You Ching and
Chou Ching-yu were also present in remembrance of Fu’s
contribution to Taiwan’s democracy.
On this day, DPP officials presented roses for Fu
Cheng to show their appreciation for his guidance.
During the remembrance gathering, Yu recited a poem
that was written to describe the life of Fu. He was born in
China, and, after coming to Taiwan, he was imprisoned for
organizing the Chinese Democracy Party. Yet when he
founded the Democratic Progressive Party, a group of
people with the same goals offered assistance and
eventually helped him realize his dream.
Called “Teacher Fu” by You Ching, Fu Cheng was
the guide of democracy thinking for many people. He was
also the venerated elder among the DPP’s eighteen
founding members.
Fu Chen, also called “Teacher Fu” respectfully
was the guide of democracy thinking for many
in Taiwan.
DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and DPP founding members,
You Ching, Chen Chu and Chou Ching-yu paid homage to
Taiwan’s forgotten hero, Fu Cheng on the 15th anniversary
of his passing.
Let’s give our president a boost
for making an international
effort for Taiwan
Taiwan faced yet another setback this month in
international relations under constant bullying from
China. DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun appealed to all
Taiwanese to give President Chen a boost for making
an international effort for Taiwan.
President Chen traveled to South and Central
America to conduct exchanges with Taiwan’s
diplomatic allies from May 3 to 10, and to attend the
inaugural ceremony of Costa Rica’s newly-elected
president.
“The unfortunate incident faced by President
Chen in this time’s foreign travel is due to China’s
international bullying of Taiwan, which hindered
President Chen from transiting the U.S. mainland,” Yu
said.
Yu emphasized that Taiwanese should not take
lightly China’s continued international oppression, and
that we must all seriously face the danger of China’s
“squeezing to death” Taiwan internationally.
China uses three finishing touches to deal with
Taiwan’s foreign policy, which are to pull, squeeze and
end all Taiwan’s diplomatic efforts.
“In contrast to this squeeze on Taiwan
internationally, at the recent KMT-CCP forum,
everyone was touched when they watched the scenes of
friendship. However, we hope that the KMT opens its
eyes and clearly sees etc, but we hope that the KMT
opens its eyes and clearly sees that China is playing by
double standards,” he said. “We must all stand together
as Taiwanese and support our president, who has faced
tough circumstances on foreign soil.”