Taipei, March 21 (CNA) A visiting U.S. congressman described Taiwan's democracy as "healthy,”on the eve of the presidential election Thursday, and said no outside force should try to intimidate Taiwan's 23 million people into giving up their democratic rights.
“Shame on any U.S. or Chinese official (who) tries to get you to go one way or another, ”said Dana Rohrabacher, who was in Taiwan as part of a U.S. delegation to observe the March 22 presidential election and referendums to be held simultaneously.
Rohrabacher, a staunch Taiwan supporter who chairs the Taiwan Caucus in the U.S. Congress, said he was not in the country to endorse any candidate or political party, but to congratulate the people of Taiwan for continuing to set an example of democracy in Asia.
Taiwan has four times shown Asia that it could elect its leader in direct democratic elections, he said.
The California congressman said he believed Taiwan would never go back to the days of a one-party regime, as it has a healthy democracy, with freedom of the press, criticism and debate.
What happened in Tibet "underscored that peace should not be taken for granted,”he said.
Rohrabacher slammed Beijing over its recent crackdown on Tibetan protesters, describing China as a“rogue nation”and a“vicious gangster”that murdered its own people.
The congressman has sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to introduce a resolution in Congress that would call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics. The proposal has received bi-partisan support, he said.
“We should not permit the totalitarian government in China to use the Olympics to cover its own evil as did Adolph Hitler in 1936," he stated in the letter.