Thu, Feb 24, 2005 page1

• `Anti-annexation' law unveiled

  LEGAL WARFARE The Taiwan Solidarity Union released its draft of a bill that it says is designed to counter the menace posed by the communists' anti-secession law

  • By Jewel Huang / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday released its draft of the "anti-annexation" law to counter Beijing's proposed anti-secession law. The TSU also urged Taiwan to launch "defensive referendums" and take "applicable actions" if any invasive action is imminent.

  TSU Secretary-General Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) and the director of the TSU's department of policy studies Lee Hsien-jen (李先仁) yesterday together held a news conference to unveil its draft "anti-annexation law" as a counterpart of Beijing's anti-secession law.

  The TSU's legislation contains five articles, which stress the legitimacy of Taiwan's existence and independent sovereignty. The third article of the legislation indicates that Taiwan's territories include Taiwan, the Penghu islands, Kinmen islands, Matsu islands, Lanyu, Green Island, the Pratas Islands and Itu Abu in the Spratly Islands. The fifth article stipulates that if any invasion or annexation action is detected, the president is entitled to launch a defensive referendum to voice a protest and to inform the Legislative Yuan to take "applicable actions," including terminating all interaction with China.

  "We still have no idea about the concrete content of the anti-secession law that Beijing is going to disclose in the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress next month. However, China's attempt to make such a piece of legislation has seriously infringed on the sovereignty of Taiwan and the welfare of the people of Taiwan," Chen said. "In this regard, the TSU has to address our concern about this law and urge the Taiwanese people to relinquish their confrontational thinking and attitudes about the pan-green camp and the pan-blue camp."

  "We should pull together to fight China's imperialism," Chen said.

  Besides, Chen said, the TSU also doubted that it was a coincidence that China would review the anti-secession law at the same time that the pan-blue camp won a legislative majority.

  "Did the Beijing authorities think that the pan-blue camp's victory was more favorable to their unification policy, and therefore boldly engaged in formulating the anti-secession law?" Chen asked.

  At this point, Chen said, the TSU urged the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the People First Party (PFP) to give up trying to facilitate the draft Taiwan Peace Law, which would force Taiwan to recognize the "one-China" principle and the "1992 consensus" and degrades the sovereignty of Taiwan as a nation.

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  Chen also said that if senior KMT officials, including party Chair-man Lien Chan (連戰) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) -- who both expressed their willingness to visit China -- really wanted to make their trips, they should apply for a visa using their official titles of former vice president of the Republic of China (ROC) and Legislative Speaker of the ROC.

  "The purpose of their trip is supposed to be `defending Taiw-an's sovereignty and opposing the anti-secession law,'" Chen said.

  "Lien and Wang can't be bought off by Chinese authorities during their visit," he said.

  Meanwhile, Lee said, the TSU said that some of Taiwan's old legal articles "echo" those of China, and should all be rescinded.

  For example, Article 4 of the ROC Constitution, Article 2 of the National Security Law (國家安全法), the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) and the National Unification Guidelines (國統綱領) all stipulate the idea of "unification with China," Lee said.

  "The TSU will work to abolish these outdated laws and organizations and ask the DPP to declare its stance on the issue," Lee said.

  "If the DPP does not do it, then the TSU will do it with a more active attitude," he said.
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