“We can reach out and touch people if we need to,” he said in a telephone interview…
… Carpenter added that he and his crew would be ready to launch another mission — if directed — just 12 hours after completion of the first mission…
PROLOGUE
“Where if your enemy
fights with intensity he will
survive but if not he will
perish, it is called
‘fatal terrain.’
On fatal terrain,
always engage in battle.”
The fistfight broke out as suddenly as a thunderclap. Several men and women leaped over seats to clutch at those who dared disagree with them or support another side over theirs. Railings and seats were used as ladders to try to get at one another, and the entire crowd seemed to surge forward like a pack of wolves on the attack.
The scene resembled an unruly crowd at a World Cup soccer match, or a riot in South Central — but this was a special session of the National Assembly of the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
The president pro tem of the National Assembly hammered his gavel, trying to restore order. He glanced over at the national guard troops peeking through the window in the back of the chamber, ready to burst in if necessary. He heard breaking glass and almost hit the panic button, but stayed calm and watched nervously as the noisy politicians surged forward. It took nearly thirty minutes to restore some level of calm, and another ten minutes for the legislators to clear the aisles enough so the National Police could escort the president of the Republic of China, Lee Teng-hui, to the podium.
“My fellow citizens, your attention, please. I am pleased to announce the results of the ratification vote of the Legislative Branch, which was taken just a few hours ago,” President Lee began. “By a vote of two hundred seventy-one for, thirty against, three abstaining, Mr. Huang Chou- ming is hereby approved by the people of the Republic of Taiwan to serve as vice president and premier. Mr. Huang, step forward, please.”
Amid renewed cheering and yelling, mostly from the left side of the hall, the new premier of the Republic of China stepped up to the dais and accepted the green-and-gold sash of office. Huang was a major figure in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and his election to the number-two position in the Taiwanese government was significant — it was the first major advance of a non-Kuomintang (KMT) Party member in the country’s short history. Although the Kuomintang still held a solid majority in all branches of the Taiwanese government, the advancement of the DPP was a major shift from nearly fifty years of KMT philosophy and control.
The shouting, cheering, celebrations, and accusations suddenly and violently turned into another brawl on the floor of the National Assembly. While bodyguards surrounded the president and vice president, members of Taiwan’s National Assembly ran up and down the aisles, stood on desks, and screamed at each other; several members were up on the dais near the president, fighting with one another to decide who would speak with the president first. Members of the National Police Administration, charged with the protection of government buildings and property and who acted as security guards in the National Assembly chamber, had moved into the chamber itself and stood stock-still along the outer aisles of the Assembly chamber, long cane batons nearly invisible at their sides and tear-gas canisters safely tucked away inside their tunics. They did nothing but watch with stone-expressionless faces while the fights and bedlam raged all around them.
“My fellow citizens,” President Lee tried. His voice, even amplified, was barely heard. He waited patiently for any sign that the near-riot was subsiding. He heard clothing rip just a few paces away from him — the fight had somehow moved up to the dais, where police were trying to keep Assembly members from reaching the president and new premier— and decided that he needed to wait a few moments longer. He had a pistol tucked away in a holster inside his pants at the small of his back, and Lee considered firing a shot in the air to get everyone’s attention, but quickly decided that a gunshot might just make this place explode.
The Taiwanese National Assembly was composed of members elected for life. Since most of the membership had been elected to their post in 1948, prior to the Communist overthrow of the Nationalist Party on the mainland, there were some very old gentlemen here in the Assembly Hall. But the old goats, Lee noticed, were arguing and fighting just as hard as the more newly elected members — they just had less endurance. The hall was splitting into two distinct sections, a normal and common occurrence here in the National Assembly. The largest group was the Kuomintang, along with their nominal allies the New Party, the Young China Party, and the Chinese Democratic Socialist Party. On the other side were the members of the Democratic Progressive Party, a more liberal and modern-thinking political party filled with young, energetic, rather idealistic members. Although the right side of the hall, filled with KMT members and supporters, was much larger, both sides were equally boisterous.
“My fellow citizens, please,” Lee tried again. When he realized there was no response to his pleas, Lee finally ordered the police to step in. Order was quickly restored. “Thank you. We will now proceed with the main piece of business on tonight’s agenda.” Huang respectfully stepped behind and to Lee’s right; this simple action got the Assembly’s attention right away, and the chamber quieted. Lee quickly continued: “This election also signals a unity of purpose and policy within our government, my friends, a union between rival patriotic groups that has been much too long in the making. Our newfound coalition between the KMT and DPP forms the basis of our pride in our accomplishments and our standing in the world community. It is time for our unity, our pride, to be brought forth upon the world for all to see.”
President Lee let the loud applause continue for a few long moments; then: “With humble pride and great joy, Premier Huang and I hereby bring to the floor of the National Assembly a bill, drafted by the Central Standing Committee of the Kuomintang, amended by the Legislative Yuan Major Constitutional Committee, and passed this date unanimously by the Legislative Branch, to amend the constitution of the Republic of China. It is now up to us to ratify this constitutional amendment.
“The bill amends the constitution by proclaiming that the Republic of China, including the island archipelagoes of Formosa, Quemoy, Matsu, Makung, Taiping, and Tiaoyutai, is now and forever shall be a separate, sovereign, and independent nation, subordinate or component to none. The people of the Republic of China hereby renounce all allegiance and ties to land, title, property, legal claims, and jurisdiction to the mainland. Our prayers will always be that we are someday reunited with our motherland, but until that day comes, we hereby proclaim that the Republic of China is a separate nation, with all the rights and responsibilities of free and sovereign nations anywhere in the world. The bill is hereby submitted for a vote. May I please have a second?”
“I proudly second the motion,” the new premier, Huang Chou-ming, shouted, which lifted the applause to a new, outrageous level. Huang and the DPP had been fighting for such a declaration of independence for many years, and their victory in getting this legislation passed and onto the Assembly floor was the most significant event in the history of the Nationalist Chinese.