Sat, Mar 26, 2005 page1

• Chen undecided about route, as Beijing fumes

  • By Huang Tai-lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  Senior Presidential Office officials kept the media guessing yesterday about which route President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will take in today's demonstration against China's "Anti-Secession" Law.

  When speaking with press yesterday noon, Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun told reporters that the National Security agencies are still assessing the routes.

  "Nothing is finalized; there are many facets to take in consideration when mapping out the president's route," Yu said. "It will be announced at an appropriate time."

  Yu said that "in principle, adults [of the first family] will go on the street."

  "As to whether the kids [Chen's two-year old grandson Chao Yi-an (趙翊安) and three-month old Chao Yi-ting (趙翊廷)] will take part in the march or not will depend on the weather," he said.

  In response reporters' questions about the US' reaction to Chen's decision to take part in the demonstration, Yu said the president had informed the nation's allies beforehand of his decision and that "the allies have no objection to it."

  The president decided to take part in the march and not to give speech to "highlight that he is one among the 23 million people," Yu said.

  "And since he is just one of the people, it is not necessary for the president to give a public speech," Yu added.

  Given Chen will take part in the rally in his capacity as a citizen , Yu said that he would not accompany Chen but will join his family and people from his hometown of Ilan on the sixth route.

  Meanwhile, at a separate event yesterday, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said she has yet to decide on whether to take part in the march.

  While she will make an appearance on stage in front of the Presidential Office, Lu said she was concerned that her participation would be an undue burden on security personnel, given that both Chen and former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) will be marching.

  Her ongoing eye infection, which is being treated, is another factor in whether or not she will march, Lu said.

  Meanwhile, Beijing-backed academics yesterday warned Taiwanese "secessionist forces" against any provocative actions or remarks.

  Quoted in the state-run China Daily, they said any challenge to the recently passed "Anti-Secession" Law could worsen already tense relations between the arch-rivals.

  "It cannot be ruled out that a handful of diehard secessionists may take desperate moves to challenge the Anti-Secession Law," said Wang Baofu, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the National Defence University of the People's Liberation Army.

  "They may further distort the bill to incite confrontation across the Taiwan Straits and poison bilateral ties."

  The controversial legislation, passed by the Chinese parliament last week, authorizes the use of military force against Taiwan, while only loosely specifying what would provoke an invasion.

  Liu Guoshen, president of the Taiwan Research Academy at Xiamen University, said in the newspaper that the "demonization of the Anti-Secession Law reflected the secessionists' fear of the legislation."

  "They are apparently attempting to deceive and mislead the public by cooking up an immediate military threat from the bill," he was quoted as saying in a newspaper the government often uses to get its point across.

  "In fact, secessionist forces on [Taiwan] know they themselves and their secessionist activities are the only target of the Anti-Secession Law."

  also see stories:
  

  US praises Taiwan's response
  

  Envoy in Washington says US backs Taiwan's reaction to Beijing's new law
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