Legislature condemns missile threat

The legislature yesterday passed two resolutions proposed by the ruling and opposition parties asking China to dismantle missiles aimed at Taiwan.

The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) proposal stated that the Republic of China (ROC) is a sovereign nation and is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China (PRC).

It said China should remove its missiles targeted at Taiwan and respect the nation's sovereignty and Taiwanese people's will to pursue peace and democracy.

The proposition jointly proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) said the ROC is an independent sovereign state and that the status quo should not be altered by any foreign force.

To allay the political and military tension across the Taiwan Strait, China should stop deploying new missiles and gradually dismantle its ballistic missiles aimed at the nation, the pan-blue camp's version said.

Angered by the opposition bloc's refusal to add "the ROC is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China" to the proposed resolution, the DPP caucus held a press conference after failed cross-party negotiations to berate the opposition alliance's pro-unification stance.

"They're still emotionally attached to China and refuse to cut the umbilical cord to their motherland," said DPP Legislator Sheng Fu-hsiung (沈富雄). "The KMT and PFP will never say Taiwan and China are two different countries as their bottom-line is `one China.'"

DPP Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said it is amazing that the opposition alliance refuses to recognize the People's Republic of China.

"Their theory is that there's only one country. However, they have remained evasive about the identify of that country -- whether it's the People's Republic of China or Republic of China," he said.

The opposition bloc should shed its antiquated position and realize that there is one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait and that Taiwan is not part of China, Lin said.

"They shouldn't entertain such a quixotic hope of reunifying with China because it's at odds with not only reality but also the will of the Taiwanese people," he said.

Calling the DPP's accusation "unfair," KMT legislative whip Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進) said the DPP is a "cult of Taiwan independence fundamentalists."

"Instead of focusing on the true spirit of the resolution, which we share with the DPP, it appeals to trivia on our political stance and the wording of the resolution," Lee said.

Following the passage of the resolution, Lee said he did not see the necessity of mounting a "preventive referendum" on March 20 as pledged by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

"If he still insists on doing so, I believe the people will question its necessity because the legislature has passed two resolutions asking Beijing to dismantle missiles aimed at us," he said.

DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), however, said expressing the people's opinion via a popular vote is different than relying on the representative system.

"Although I agree that a `preventive referendum' doesn't have much domestic significance, it sends out our message to the international community and puts pressure on Beijing," he said.