The approval of greater autonomy for the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia was seen on Monday as a victory for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, boosting his chances of ending separatist violence in the nearby Basque region.
The opposition conservatives, however, threw down a vehement challenge to Zapatero, claiming that his decentralization policies were disempowering the state and pledging to take their case to the Constitutional Court.
Nearly 74 percent of Catalan voters backed a reformed autonomy statute in the referendum on Sunday.
The charter indirectly recognizes the wealthy region of 6.8 million people as a nation, increasing its powers especially in the financial and judicial areas.
Several commentators regarded the result as a victory for Zapatero, who described decentralization as bringing "progress and well-being" to a Spain united by the Constitution.
The conservative Popular Party (PP) sought to discredit the entire referendum because of the low voter turnout of just under 50 percent.
PP leader Mariano Rajoy described the Catalan reform as Zapatero's "personal project" which would "liquidate constitutional Spain."
"Spain is not breaking up, but it is shading off in a subtle way, little by little, until one day it will no longer exist as such," commentator Casimiro Garcia-Abadillo wrote in the conservative daily El Mundo.
The Catalan reform was linked with the situation in the Basque region, which already has greater autonomy than Catalonia will now get.
Basque strivings for more self-government have nevertheless taken more extreme forms than in Catalonia, with the armed separatist group ETA killing more than 800 people since 1968.
Increasingly marginalized, the group has not staged fatal attacks since 2003 and declared a permanent ceasefire in March.
Zapatero is now preparing to launch peace talks with ETA amid strong criticism from the conservatives who fear that the government will pay a "political price" for peace.
The government does not intend to discuss Basque self-determination directly with ETA, but has indicated willingness to extend Basque autonomy in an attempt to persuade nationalist parties to give up the dream of independence.
The easy passing of the Catalan reform was expected to help Zapatero gather support for the Basque peace process, which he will announce later this month.
The Basques and Catalans were granted special status as "historic nationalities" after the end of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in 1975.
Others among Spain's 17 semiautonomous regions are also seeking more self-government, including southern Andalusia, northwestern Galicia and the Balearic and Canary Islands.
A new autonomy statute has already been approved for the eastern Valencia region.
Conservative warnings that the state is breaking up have stirred unrest in the military, with several officers criticizing the Catalan reform.
Ground forces chief Jose Mena was sacked earlier this year for suggesting that the army could intervene to defend the Constitution.
Such talk reminds the Basques and Catalans of Franco, who banned their regional languages and repressed all striving for autonomy.
The Catalan vote was seen by local analysts as indicating that fears of the state disintegrating were unfounded.
Two parties had called for a no-vote: the conservatives and the relatively small separatist party ERC, for which the new charter did not grant Catalonia enough self-government.
By backing a moderate increase in autonomy, voters rejected both extremes: the "alarmism" of the PP and the radicalism of the ERC, commentators said.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan in late February. During their various meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, this delegation never missed an opportunity to emphasize the strength of their cross-party consensus on issues relating to Taiwan and China. Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi are leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Their instruction upon taking the reins of the committee was to preserve China issues as a last bastion of bipartisanship in an otherwise deeply divided Washington. They have largely upheld their pledge. But in doing so, they have performed the
It is well known that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) ambition is to rejuvenate the Chinese nation by unification of Taiwan, either peacefully or by force. The peaceful option has virtually gone out of the window with the last presidential elections in Taiwan. Taiwanese, especially the youth, are resolved not to be part of China. With time, this resolve has grown politically stronger. It leaves China with reunification by force as the default option. Everyone tells me how and when mighty China would invade and overpower tiny Taiwan. However, I have rarely been told that Taiwan could be defended to
It should have been Maestro’s night. It is hard to envision a film more Oscar-friendly than Bradley Cooper’s exploration of the life and loves of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein. It was a prestige biopic, a longtime route to acting trophies and more (see Darkest Hour, Lincoln, and Milk). The film was a music biopic, a subgenre with an even richer history of award-winning films such as Ray, Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. What is more, it was the passion project of cowriter, producer, director and actor Bradley Cooper. That is the kind of multitasking -for-his-art overachievement that Oscar
Chinese villages are being built in the disputed zone between Bhutan and China. Last month, Chinese settlers, holding photographs of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), moved into their new homes on land that was not Xi’s to give. These residents are part of the Chinese government’s resettlement program, relocating Tibetan families into the territory China claims. China shares land borders with 15 countries and sea borders with eight, and is involved in many disputes. Land disputes include the ones with Bhutan (Doklam plateau), India (Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin) and Nepal (near Dolakha and Solukhumbu districts). Maritime disputes in the South China