TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In an “open letter” to Foxconn founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠) wrote that if Taiwan gives up its sovereignty, China will definitely invade.
On Tuesday afternoon (May 9), Tsao took to Facebook to share a post titled, “An Open Letter to Chairman Terry Gou.” In the post, he asked Gou what he, as a presidential hopeful, believes is Taiwan’s biggest problem and crisis.
“I remember you saying Taiwan’s most important problem at the moment is its economy; I beg to differ. The economy is of course important, but that is when a country is at peace. When a country is facing hardship, its economy is no longer the top priority,” Tsao wrote. “When a major pandemic hits, to save everyone’s lives, some economic activities must be paused, and short-term economic development is sacrificed.”
He added, “Today, Taiwan is facing China’s threats of unification by force, and if it does not respond properly, the country will perish; Taiwanese will be killed, imprisoned, exiled, and brainwashed. This is the biggest problem that must be solved.”
Tsao cited Gou as saying in the past that if he was elected president, China would stop sending military aircrafts to fly around Taiwan because “If we are not independent, you shall not use force.” However, Tsao wrote, Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) had repeatedly stressed his determination to “unify” Taiwan and refused to rule out the use of force during the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Over the years, no Chinese official ever said, ‘As long as Taiwan is not independent, the CCP will not use force against Taiwan.’ So, when you said, ‘If we are not independent, you should not use force,’ that counts as a major declaration,” Tsao wrote. He questioned if Gou’s claim had any basis or if he had reached an agreement with China.
Additionally, Tsao highlighted the fact that since the founding of the Republic of China (ROC) in 1912, it has been an independent country. The so-called “Taiwan independence” movement, he wrote, refers to Taiwanese’s efforts in the past to overthrow the authoritarian rule of the Kuomintang (KMT).
According to Tsao, this was achieved in 1996 when former Taiwan President Lee Tung-hui (李登輝) successfully implemented Taiwan’s first direct presidential election. “Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to run for president in Taiwan, no?”
The reason why the CCP keeps promoting the idea that the ROC is not a sovereign, independent country and the “unification” of Taiwan is China’s “internal affair” is because it fears international interference if it decides to forcefully invade, Tsao added. If the international community interferes, the CCP rule may perish instead of Taiwan.
Tsao therefore corrected Gou’s logic: if the international community understands that neither Taiwan nor China belong to one another, it is free to interfere, and China will not dare resort to force. If Taiwan claims that it is not an independent country, it becomes difficult for the international community to interfere, and the CCP will definitely use force against Taiwan.
“In other words, instead of ‘If we are not independent, you shall not use force,’ it should be ‘If we are not independent, they definitely will use force,’” he concluded.