Taiwan referendum provokes rise in tension

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, February 26, 2004

Taiwan referendum provokes rise in tension

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A Chinese government spokesman Wednesday reiterated the denunciation of the referendum to be called by the Taiwan authorities on March 20, claiming that the separatism intention could never be concealed.

Li Weiyi, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, said many residents of the island disapproved of the referendum and the international community also questioned its motives.

"The referendum is a plot to change the cross-Strait status quo and to sabotage the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait," Li said.

He said the "one-China" principle, which maintains Taiwan as an integral part of China, is the foundation of the stability and development of cross-Strait relations.

However, Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian had never endorsed the "92 consensus" reached by both sides in 1992 on a basis of accepting the "one-China" principle during his four years in office.

"On one hand, Chen is bent on pursuing a referendum that aims to split Taiwan from China, under the camouflage of democracy. On the other hand, he has professed to set up a so-called framework for cross-Strait peace and stability, which sounds an obvious deceit to island residents and the international community," Li said.

Analysts said Chen is also managing to take advantage of the referendum to boost his chances of re-election by antagonizing the mainland.

The referendum plan has drawn intense criticism from within the island and the international community for threatening to unilaterally change the cross-Straits status quo.

At the briefing, Li dismissed Chen's latest peace overtures as deceptive talks to fool the Taiwanese public and international opinion.

On February 3, the Taiwan leader outlined his plan for a so-called "peace and stability framework'' across the Straits, proposing to set up a demilitarized zone, swap special envoys and establish liaison offices between the two sides.

But Li heavily questioned Chen's sincerity, given the fact that he is bent on separatist activities through the referendum under the guise of promoting democracy.

"If Chen Shui-bian was really sincere, he would accept the 1992 consensus to create conditions for the resumption of talks and negotiations across the Taiwan Straits,'' he said.

"Otherwise, he will once again be cheating the Taiwanese people and international opinion.''

Since taking power on May 20, 2000, Chen has denied the existence of the informal 1992 agreement, under which both Beijing and Taipei recognize themselves as a part of China.

Li went on to accuse separatist forces led by former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui of distorting the Taiwanese people's patriotic uprising on February 28, 1947 to advocate Taiwan independence.

It is both a grave distortion of historical facts and a contravention of Taiwanese people's fundamental interests to describe the event as "a start of Taiwan independence,'' according to the spokesman.

This Saturday marks the 57th anniversary of the February 28 uprising, an armed protest in Taiwan against the ruling Kuomintang government during which thousands of Taiwanese people were killed.

Lee and his followers have been distorting the uprising as "an independent movement of the Taiwan people to fight the regime from outside'' and a fight between native Taiwanese people and those from the mainland.

They are planning a huge rally to form a human chain on Saturday to demonstrate hostility against the mainland.

The event, called "Hand in Hand to Protect Taiwan,'' aims to gather more than one million people.

Li said the February 28 uprising was against oppression and a courageous drive for Taiwan compatriots to seek democracy.

It will be wrong for some people on the island to use the historic event to stir up confrontation among the Taiwanese public and creating tension across the Straits, he said.

Meanwhile, the spokesman also expressed the mainland's wish to establish a closer economic and trade relations across the Strait, saying the mainland was willing to collect opinions from all circles of the island for a closer cooperative mechanism.

Wang Huapeng, deputy director of the Taiwan affairs office under the State Administration of Press and Publication, said the copyright trade, publishing cooperation and publication trade between the two sides had progressed rapidly in recent years.

The mainland imported 770 copyrights from Taiwan and exported 201 copyrights to the island in 1999. The figures rose to 968 and 459 respectively in 2000, and to 1,366 and 787 in 2001. The year 2002 saw a slight drop with imports down to 1,278 and exports to 755.

Since 2002, Taiwan publishers have invested in 42 publishing projects on the mainland, involving 214 million US dollars.

Wang said Taiwan publishers would receive official approval to set up book wholesale enterprises or chain stores on the mainland from Dec. 1.

Publishers on both sides had intensified exchanges in the publication, editing, distribution, printing, management and copyright trade since 1989.

In addition, Li Weiyi hoped the Taiwan government would lift the ban on mainland tourists.

The Taiwan authorities recently issued a regulation stipulating that only mainland residents living abroad could visit Taiwan on holidays, which was unreasonable and caused concern of Taiwan's tourism sector.

By People's Daily Online

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