Chen raises pitch of anti-China rhetoric

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday continued with his tough rhetoric against China, saying that there is "one country on either side" (一邊一國) of the Taiwan Strait and that Taiwan must now seriously consider passing a referendum law to protect the country's sovereignty.

Chen reiterated in a 20-minute video telecast to the 29th Annual Meeting of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations in Tokyo that Taiwan must go its "own way" to create a road for its future, explaining that "Taiwan's own road" meant "democracy, freedom, human rights and peace."

The president's remarks yesterday followed a series of speeches in which he has challenged China to respond to Taiwan's goodwill and sincerity in improving cross-strait relations.

He has repeatedly warned during the past three weeks that if Beijing doesn't react positively, he would not rule out the possibility of Taiwan going its "own way."

Chen deviated from his original speech in yesterday's address to take a tougher tone toward China. He stressed that Taiwan neither belonged to someone else nor was someone's local government.

"Our country cannot be bullied, dwarfed or marginalized, and we are not a part or a province of another country. We cannot become the second Hong Kong or Macau because we are an independent sovereign country," he said.

The president, sitting in a black leather chair in front of a green marble wall in the Presidential Office, told his audience that Taiwan now had to seriously think about passing a national referendum law.

"China's `one China' principle and 'one country, two systems' formula means changing our status quo; we cannot accept it. No country, no government, no political party can make decisions for Taiwan," Chen said.

"Only Taiwan's 23 million people have the right to decide Taiwan's future or fate, or to change the status quo," he said. "And how can we make the decision if it becomes necessary? The answer is a public referendum, which is the goal and idea that we have been pursuing for a long time."

The president said that the referendum would be a "basic human right" of all 23 million Taiwanese.

"I therefore sincerely appeal to and encourage all of us to consider the importance and urgency of passing a referendum law," he said.

His comments yesterday echoed those of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who characterized cross-strait relations as "special stat-to-state" in a 1999 interview with German media.

Opposition politicians were quick to criticize Chen's comments yesterday, saying he had broken promises he made in his election speech two years ago.

KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) warned that Chen's speech could bring disaster to Taiwan.

James Soong (宋楚瑜), chairman of the PFP, said that Chen had broken his promise not to push for a plebiscite on Taiwan's future during his four-year term.

The DPP later issued a statement saying that Chen's recent comments were reactions to China's suppression and bulling of Taipei.

"Since the DPP became the ruling party, it has repeatedly demonstrated goodwill ... and striven to strengthen bilateral commercial exchanges.

"But Beijing has ignored the DPP's efforts [to improve ties] and continues to hurt the feelings of the Taiwanese people," it said, referring to China's military buildup and moves to squeeze Taiwan's international space.