Taipei, March 11 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian urged overseas Chinese Tuesday to support the Republic of China in its efforts to maintain democracy in defiance of Beijing's military threats.
Speaking to a group of overseas Chinese from Florida and the southern United States, Chen said overseas Chinese are the country's valuable assets, recalling that they played a vital role in the country's 1911 revolution and have helped the country become democratic.
Now that the country's hardly-earned and fully-developed democracy is under military threat from the People's Republic of China, overseas Chinese should unite behind the ROC regardless of their political affiliation.
He said Beijing's efforts to woo overseas Chinese support for its campaign to promote the unification of China and to oppose Taiwan sovereignty are part of its attempts to shut the ROC out of the international community.
Chen warned overseas Chinese to be wary of Beijing's design against Taiwan and throw their weight behind the Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace, an organization initiated by Taipei.
Although aware Beijing's hostility, Chen said his administration will do its utmost to keep peaceful and friendly ties with mainland China while enhancing Taiwan's international profile.