- BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters)
- China warned Taiwan on Monday that its planned March referendum would
push bilateral ties to the "brink of danger," even though the
island has watered down the wording of the proposition to be put to voters.
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- Taiwan's top China policymaking body, in turn, issued
a strongly worded statement calling Beijing a "troublemaker"
that is trying to prevent the island from practicing democracy.
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- The referendum, scheduled to be held alongside presidential
elections on March 20, would "increase tension in cross-Strait relations
and push cross-Strait relations step by step to the brink of danger,"
China's State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan said.
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- "This kind of provocative action will only stir
up antagonism and hostility," Tang said in a speech, a copy of which
was obtained by Reuters.
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- Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian diluted the referendum
proposition last week in an apparent bid to appease Washington, which had
warned against either side changing the status quo. China sees the referendum
as a move toward independence.
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- Rather than demand that China dismantle missiles aimed
at the island, the referendum will now ask voters whether Taiwan should
boost its own missile defense in the face of the Chinese threat.
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- The referendum will ask a second question -- should Taiwan
negotiate with China to establish a peaceful and stable framework for interaction?
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- Beijing and Taipei have been rivals since their split
in 1949 at the end of a civil war. But trade, investment and tourism have
blossomed since detente began in the late 1980s. Taiwan investors have
poured up to $100 billion into China, lured by low land and labor costs
and a common language and culture.
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- "ILLEGAL AND UNNECESSARY"
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- Defending Chen's referendum plan, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs
Council said deployment of 500 Chinese ballistic missiles pointed at the
island underscored its hostility.
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- "Communist China has once again deliberately confounded
right and wrong, making false interpretation and trying to block Taiwan's
democratic development," the Taiwan council said.
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- "Communist China is a real troublemaker that is
causing problems in the Taiwan Strait and being provocative. It is not
qualified to talk about peace," the cabinet-level agency said.
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- But Chen's controversial referendum plan faces opposition
at home, too.
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- Lien Chan, chairman of Taiwan's main opposition Nationalist
Party and a presidential candidate, called the referendum illegal and unnecessary,
but stopped short of saying whether his party would block the landmark
vote.
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- "We do not oppose stability, peace, and dialogue
on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait. But is this referendum really necessary?"
Lien told reporters.
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- "It's legally unfounded. It's unnecessary. It's
a waste."
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- China's Tang called for negotiations to end the state
of hostility under Beijing's cherished "one China" principle,
which dictates that both Taiwan and the mainland are part of one country.
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-
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- Chen has rejected the "one China" precept and
incensed Beijing by redefining bilateral ties as "one country on each
side." China has threatened to attack Taiwan if the self-ruled, democratic
island of 23 million formally declares independence.
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- China was confident Taiwan would eventually return to
the fold, Tang told a gathering to mark the ninth anniversary of former
president Jiang Zemin's eight-point proposal for reunification with Taiwan,
including leaders exchanging visits.
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