Letters To The Editor
Letters To The Editor
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Alarming revelation Your article entitled "Taiwan's tacky tactics in Tarawa" (Islands Business February 2004 issue, pp. 18-20) raised three very disturbing issues: the "tacky tactics" of foreign governments in elections in Kiribati, the potential compromising of the sovereignty of our country under the circumstances described in your article, and the integrity of our aspiring political leaders‹in particular, Dr Harry Tong. - ADVERTISEMENT -
It is interesting to note that Dr Tong's crony, Brian Orme, spilled the beans subsequent to Dr Tong's defeat. I wonder if he would have done the same had Dr Tong been victorious? On a more personal level, I have received several emails, letters and phone calls from Kiribati after the publication of the article, claiming that I too had compromised my principled stand by receiving some of the Taiwan money for drafting, designing and contributing ideas to Dr Tong's election manifesto. I hereby categorically repudiate the false and baseless claims regarding monetary payment. My sole reward for engaging in what I did was the satisfaction of supporting a candidate who opposed a government whose policies I opposed‹especially the immunity of the president from prosecution for civil cases and the strangulation of the media. Dr Tong and Mr Orme can vouch for that. Had I known then that they were receiving clandestine funding from a foreign government, I would have had strikingly different perceptions of Dr Tong and his candidature. The i-Kiribati have been flirting with two options: keep either China or Taiwan. I propose a third: show both of them where the door is. Teweiariki Teaero |
