Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Vice President Annette Lu said Monday that war is not the solution to problems and that peace is the only option for mankind.
Lu made the remarks when she received foreign guests attending a regional security seminar over the weekend in Taipei at the Presidential Office.
Lu noted that the International Seminar on Asia-Pacific Cooperative Security is significant because it comes at a time when the U.S.-led forces have been waging war in Iraq for the past two weeks.
The vice president spoke of three "wars" currently being waged in the world: the one in Iraq, the one to fight the potentially deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the looming conflict against North Korea because of the reactivation of its nuclear facilities.
Therefore, Lu stated that "mankind is now in the midst of World War III, " although the means and locations of this " war" are distinctively different from the previous two world wars.
The outbreak of SARS has become a far more serious issue than first thought, Lu said, adding that because mainland China was slow to reveal information on SARS, the infectious disease was able to travel across the globe.
She said that the conventional concept of national security is confined to national defense and military capability, but the outbreak of SARS has forced a rethink; security should also include public health and quarantine issues. "One must never ignore the issues of mankind when talking about security in this century," she said.
Lu said that the anti-war protests around the world have shown that war is not the answer; peace is the only solution.
She urged the guests to enjoy the friendliness of the people in Taiwan, stressing again that Taiwan has not only created economic and political miracles, but has created the "miracle of peace" through its efforts over the past five decades.
She noted that there are no other countries in the world like Taiwan, a country that can survive and maintain sustainable development for so long while under constant military threats from mainland China.
Taiwan is willing to use its "soft power, " meaning its human rights, democracy, peace, love and high-tech development to help other nations, Lu said.
The twenty-eight foreign guests in Taiwan for the international seminar were accompanied by seminar coordinator Hsieh Shu-yuan in the meeting with the vice president.