| 10.13.2004 Reuter China Spurns Taiwan President's Peace Overture Wed Oct 13, 2:18 AM ET, By Benjamin Kang Lim BEIJING (Reuters) - China spurned Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's peace overtures Wednesday, accusing him of merely paying lip service to easing tensions between the two arch foes. Chen called for peace talks with China in his National Day speech Sunday, but asserted that the island was a sovereign nation and not a mere province of China. "When Chen Shui-bian says he wants to ease tensions, it is false. When he says he wants independence, it is true," Zhang Mingqing, a spokesman for Beijing's policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference. Communist China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has threatened to attack the democratic island of 23 million if it formally declares statehood. Beijing is convinced Chen will push the envelope on independence in his current second and final four-year term. Chen was pushing for Taiwan to become a normal, complete country by overhauling the island's constitution, Zhang said, adding that Taipei had sought to join the United Nations (news - web sites) from which it was ousted in 1971 and to step up arms purchases. "These lay bare his lies," Zhang said. The spokesman accused Chen of "smearing and maliciously attacking the mainland motherland and recklessly worsening cross-Strait relations." "He has no sincerity," Zhang said when asked when China would agree to contacts with Taiwan to reduce misunderstanding. Formal independence for the self-ruled island was the "biggest threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region ... and would only bring great disaster." "Taiwan independence (means) there will be no peace. Splitting (means) there will be no stability," he said, but stopped short of repeating a long-standing threat to use force. GLIMMER OF HOPE? Asked if he saw anything positive or conciliatory in Chen's speech, the spokesman said: "Can you reach that conclusion from the remarks I just made? I don't think so." But Zhang said China was still committed to peaceful reunification. He urged the island to embrace Beijing's cherished "one China" policy, which dictates that Taiwan and the mainland are part of a single country, to set aside political differences and on that basis resume dialogue as soon as possible. In Taipei, Chiu Tai-san, vice chairman of Taiwan's policy-making Mainland Affairs Council, said China just needed time to consider Chen's proposal. "Taiwan is willing to wait patiently as China considers our call for negotiations on issues concerning the people of the two sides for the sake of cross-Strait peace and stability," he said. Cheng Wen-tsang, spokesman for Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, said: "China's insistence to make one China' a precondition for talks has become an obstacle to opening negotiations and is not conducive to cross-Strait relations." Tensions, which have been simmering since Chen was re-elected in March, would not affect Taiwan businessmen who have invested up to $100 billion in China, Zhang said. The spokesman said China was willing to strengthen exchanges and expand cooperation with Taiwan compatriots and boost understanding and mutual trust to create a win-win situation. Taiwan's top China policymaker invited Chinese envoys on Monday to visit the island to discuss the opening of direct charter flights. Asked to comment on the offer, Zhang said direct charter flights must be reciprocal, with Chinese airliners allowed to fly to Taiwan. Such flights must be designated domestic and not international, he added. Taiwan has banned direct air and shipping links for more than five decades, but trade, investment and tourism have flourished since the late 1980s, albeit routed mostly through Hong Kong. |
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