Taipei, May 24 (CNA) A pro-independence Taiwanese writer claimed Thursday that the general pessimism held by many Taiwanese on Taiwan's future is "unnecessary" and 2008 will be an important year for Taiwan as well as for many other countries around the globe.
"Overall, Taiwan is not doing as badly as some local media have described and China is not doing as well as they have said. There is no need to panic and be pessimistic about Taiwan's future, " claimed Ko Bunyu, a Taiwanese writer who is also known as Huang Wen-hsiung and lives in Japan.
Ko addressed his views of Taiwan's future in a three-stage rationale: 2008; 5-10 years after that; and 30-100 years after that . In his view, 2008 will be a year of big changes not only for Taiwan but also for many other countries.
"There will be a legislative election at the end of this year and the presidential election next year in Taiwan. In South Korea, the parliamentary and presidential elections will be held -- in reverse order compared to Taiwan -- in 2008. Japan will hold a senate election and the U.S. will elect its next president in 2008. And of course, the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be held in China, " Ko said.
In addition, a proposal has been submitted in the European Union that seeks to elect an E.U. president in 2009, Ko added.
"In other words, from 2008 to 2009 we will be seeing a lot of new leaders in many countries and a possible new world order and landscape. The implications of this phenomenon for Taiwan are worthy of observation, " he said.
Looking ahead to the near future of 5-10 years, Ko said the U.S. will still be the most influential country to Taiwan simply because, in addition to the long history and partnership between two countries, the U.S. accounts for 25 percent of the world economy and its military budget takes up 48 percent of the global military
spending.
Ko, who has written a number of controversial books and is known for his anti-China stance, also used various statistics to back his claim that China's rise is not as powerful and threatening as people think.
The Tokyo-based writer made the remark at a book promotion event.