Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Annette Lu warns of China's `peace'


CNA , TAIPEI
Friday, Dec 17, 2004,Page 3

Vice President Annette Lu yesterday urged the international community to see beyond what she called the "fake peace" offered by China.

While continuing its military threats against Taiwan, Lu said, China had plans for an "anti-separatism" law which would be used to justify an invasion.

Lu was speaking at the 10th Taipei Roundtable co-organized by the Chinatrust Commercial Bank and the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Lu said that although China has advocated a "peaceful rise," the international community should recognize the "fake peace" of China and the "true peace" of Taiwan.

It was China's strategy to use its economic and cultural power to force US influence out of Asia under a mask of peace, Lu said.

In addition to using its military power to intimidate the public, China is carrying out legal, psychological and media warfare against Taiwan and has sent several thousand secret agents into the country, she said.

Lu also asserted that Taiwan was a de facto independent country, regardless of what name is used to represent it.

She called the international community's attention to a new national identity among Taiwanese which wished for a release from the "one-China spell." This identification had been established over three decades of localization and democratic development, she said.

Lu urged the US to review its "one China" policy and expressed the hope that cross-strait relations could be normalized soon.


http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/12/17/2003215456





China to enact anti-secession law

December 17, 2004
China has announced it will enact an anti-secession law, in a move analysts said was aimed to stifle any ambitions in Taiwan for formal independence.

The official Xinhua news agency said a draft law would be submitted for discussion to China's parliament, the NPC, from 25-29 December.

The agency did not specify the bill's purpose, or give any further details.

But it comes amid continuing tensions between China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province.


"Over the past year, quite a few Chinese lawmakers and senior government advisors have proposed that 'a law on national reunification be enacted as soon as possible'," the Xinhua report said.

Analysts say an anti-secession law may be more palatable to Washington than a reunification law.

The Taiwanese government is strongly opposed to reunification with the mainland, and the US is bound to come to Taiwan's defence in the event of any Chinese attempt to impose this.

China has also warned that any moves by Taiwan's government to seek formal independence would mean war.

Relations between the two have worsened since Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian took office in 2000. Following his re-election in 2004, he has pledged to push for a new constitution for Taiwan - a move Beijing believes is aimed at pursuing independence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4104909.stm