- BEIJING, (AFP) - Taiwan's
push for formal independence is crossing Beijing's red line and risks triggering
a war, a senior Chinese official has been quoted as saying.
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- Curbing the independence drive was the bottom line of
Beijing's Taiwan policy and war would erupt if the island pushed ahead,
Wang Zaixi, vice-minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office, was quoted as saying
in the China Daily.
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- "If the Taiwan authorities collude with all splittist
forces to openly engage in pro-independence activities and challenge the
mainland and the one-China principle, the use of force may become unavoidable,"
Wang said.
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- "(The separatist forces) are set to pay a high cost
if they think we will not use force against their conspiracy to promote
formal independence."
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- Wang stressed Beijing hopes to peacefully settle the
Taiwan question as it considers all people on the island to be Chinese
compatriots, but warned it should not be left to the mainland to realise
peaceful reunification.
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- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, from the pro-independence
Democratic Progressive Party, has launched an aggressive re-election campaign
based on the assertion that Taiwan is a separate country from China.
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- While China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since
the end of a civil war in 1949, Beijing considers the island part of its
territory awaiting reunification.
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- The United States is a strong supporter of Taiwan, and
the US president is required by law to provide Taipei with the means to
defend itself.
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- http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031119/wl_asia_afp/china_taiwan_031119041334
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