February 22, 2000
China Says Taiwan Cannot Continue Delaying
Reunion
Text
China's
Statement on Taiwan
By ERIK ECKHOLM
EIJING, Feb.
21 -- Less than one month before presidential elections in Taiwan, the
Chinese government released the bluntest warning yet that it will not
wait indefinitely for the island to reunite with the mainland. A
prolonged lack of negotiations, in itself, China warned, could provoke
a military attack.
|
CHINA AND TAIWAN |
|
Related Articles
U.S.
House Vote to Fortify Military Ties With Taiwan Angers China
(Feb. 3, 2000)
Opposition
Candidate in Taiwan Won't Push China on Independence Issue
(Jan. 31, 2000)
Taiwan
Candidate Eases on China Policy (Jan. 21, 2000)
China's
Leader Flexing Muscle on Several Fronts at Once (Aug. 14,
1999)
New
Goal in Taiwan: To Be Left Alone (Aug. 9, 1999)
In
Unusual Announcement, China Tells of a Missile Test (Aug. 3,
1999)
Taiwan's
President Declines to Soften His New Doctrine (July 23,
1999)
Beijing
Sees U.S. Hand in Taiwan Shift on `One China' (July 15,
1999)
Taiwan
President Implies His Island Is Sovereign State (July 13,
1999)
President
of Taiwan Seeks Separate Identity (Sept. 2, 1998)
Question
After Hong Kong: Is Taiwan Next for China? (May 3, 1997)
Taiwan
Plan on Constitution May Provoke China (July 4, 1997)
War
Games Play Well for Taiwan's Leader (March 22, 1996)
News Analysis
A
Tightrope Act Over Taiwan (Aug. 5, 1999)
Is
China Waving a Bomb at Taiwan? (July 16, 1999)
'What
Is China?' Taiwan's New Answer Is Puzzling (July 14, 1999)
Maps
Eastern
China from Merriam-Webster's Atlas
Taiwan
from Merriam-Webster's Atlas
Related Web Sites
The Taiwan
Documents Project, a collection of documents relating to the
legal status and international relations of Taiwan.
The
Constitution of the Republic of China, adopted by the
National Constituent Assembly on December 25, 1946.
Taiwan
Profile, from the U.S. State Department.
China
Profile, from the U.S. State Department.
Forum
Join a
Discussion on China's and Taiwan
|
The Chinese have long made it clear that any moves by Taiwan toward
formal independence would lead to war. But today's government report
on Taiwan adds -- for the first time in such a definitive policy
statement -- that if Taiwan refuses indefinitely to pursue "the
peaceful settlement of cross-straits reunification through
negotiations, then the Chinese government will only be forced to adopt
all drastic measures possible, including the use of force, to
safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The report does not provide timetable or deadline for negotiating
progress. Still, "This is a signal that Beijing is getting impatient
with the delays in the process of reunification," said Andrew Yang,
secretary general of the China Council of Advanced Policy Studies, a
private group in Taipei. "This is a warning to the people of Taiwan."
Taiwan officials said they would not comment until they had studied
the document. As of tonight, the candidates in the March 18
presidential elections had not responded. The top contenders have
favored talks of some sort, but not Beijing's vision of reunification.
The 11,000-word report, entitled "The One-China Principle and the
Taiwan Issue," was released by the Taiwan affairs office and the
information office of the state council, China's cabinet.
It elaborates on China's longstanding proposal for a negotiated
return of Taiwan under a version of the "one country, two systems"
formula, with even greater autonomy than was given to Hong Kong, which
reverted to Chinese rule in 1997. "Provided that it is within
the framework of one China, any question can be discussed," the report
says, including "Taiwan's international space for economic, cultural
and social activities compatible with its status, the political status
of the Taiwan authorities and other questions."
That formula has been rejected as too confining by Taiwan's leaders
and the three leading presidential candidates.
The dire warnings in the document were a reminder of what an
emotional issue the reunification of Taiwan with the "motherland" is
for Beijing, especially now that Hong Kong and Macao have returned to
the fold. While there was no ultimatum or threat of immediate attack,
they also underscore how explosive the confrontation across the Taiwan
Strait is, potentially drawing the United States into war with China.
|
The New York Times |
Taiwan is in the midst of a
presidential election campaign.
|
Today's report lambastes the United States for providing advanced
weapons to Taiwan, which China says violates promises, and for
proposals in Congress for a closer military relationship with the
island, which it calls a "gross interference in China's internal
affairs and a grave threat to China's security."
The United States officially supports the concept of "one China,"
but is also committed to providing Taiwan with the means to defend
itself against attack.
In Washington, the State Department said there would be no official
response until the report was studied "very carefully." But the harder
line on Taiwan was likely to cause political problems for the Clinton
administration as it faces a battle for Congressional approval of to
get China's membership in the World Trade Organization approved in
Congress. And the report's denunciation of the Congressional bill to
upgrade military ties with Taiwan, which passed the House this month,
could enhance support for the bill in the Senate.
The new Chinese report bitterly condemns Taiwan's president, Lee
Tung-hui, accusing him of destroying previous talks with his assertion
last summer that Taiwan would negotiate with China only on a
"state-to-state" basis and his refusal to repeat the traditional
homage to the concept of "one China."
After Mr. Lee's statement last summer, China broke off planned
high-level meetings, charging that Mr. Lee was secretly scheming for
independence even though he professes to support reunion at some
distant point -- after the mainland, too, has become a democracy.
The report condemns Mr. Lee's suggestion of waiting for democracy
as "an excuse for postponing and resisting reunification," since China
has offered to allow different political systems to coexist under the
banner of one China.
It is too early to tell what effect China's sharp words might have
on Taiwan's election campaign. In 1996, before Taiwan's first direct
elections for president, China was angered by Mr. Lee's defiant
statements and fired missiles near Taiwan as a warning. The United
States sent two aircraft carriers to the region.
Mr. Lee won election handily and seemed to gain popular appeal
though his brinkmanship, but since then many Taiwanese who had toyed
with the idea of declaring independence have had second thoughts.
China lacks the military power to invade Taiwan, experts say, and
is no match for American forces should they be drawn into a
confrontation. But China is steadily improving its navy; it recently
received the first of two Russian-built guided-missile destroyers
designed to penetrate American carrier group defenses. And it is
building up forces of ballistic and cruise missiles. Both could be
used to cripple Taiwan's economy by disrupting sea lanes.
So far, this year's election campaign has involved fewer military
tensions, and in Taiwan the candidates have gone out of their way to
avoid sounding provocative. Surveys show that a large majority of the
Taiwan public, after enjoying years of prosperity and democracy, does
not want a military confrontation with China.
All three major candidates, -- Vice President Lien Chan of the
governing Nationalist Party; James Soong, a former Nationalist leader
who is running as an independent, and Chen Shui-bian, of the
Democratic Progressive Party -- have made vague pledges to resume
negotiations of some sort with China and to encourage more trade and
business links. But none endorses China's formula for reunification,
and it is unclear what the two sides might say in future to talks to
give China a sense of progress toward unity.
Some political experts think that today's Chinese warning may be
intended, in part, to scare voters away from Mr. Chen, whose party has
long been associated with Taiwan independence. The founding charter of
his party calls for a referendum on whether the island, still formally
called the Republic of China, should be renamed the Republic of
Taiwan.
Mr. Chen, seeking to broaden his electoral appeal, has declared
that since Taiwan is already independent in practice, it does not need
a formal declaration and that if elected, he would not pursue a
referendum on the issue unless Taiwan came under attack. He has
offered to discuss improving communications and economic ties,
something the mainland badly wants.
The report released today unequivocally rejects the legitimacy of
any referendum in Taiwan on independence, warning, "Any attempt to
separate Taiwan from China through so-called referendum would only
lead the Taiwan people to disaster."
In effect, today's warning puts the Taiwan candidates on notice
that China does not intend to allow a repeat of Mr. Lee's performance,
which it believes brought a halt to even the pretense of negotiations
toward symbolic unification.
.gif)