Chen urges Seoul not to give in to Chinese pressure

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged South Korea not to seek favor from China by distancing itself from Taiwan, saying such an attitude would not be conducive to the security of the Asia-Pacific region.

"We understand that the `Sun-shine Policy' of the current Korean government is aimed at maintaining the peace, security and stability of the Korean Peninsula," President Chen said, "but that policy must not in its implementation cozy up to communist China, nor appease Beijing."

The president made his remarks as he received a delegation from South Korea's legislature at the Presidential Office. He said that Korea's increasing tilt toward China had led to its alienation from Taiwan.

"The Korean government even rejected a visit from the Dalai Lama just because it worried about China's reaction," the president said: "I believe that no person with breadth of vision will ever agree with its stance."

Meanwhile, Chen also told foreign media that the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will be impossible as long as China's military threatens Taiwan.

"They [China] point missiles and guns toward us; no one in my country will tolerate it," Chen said, according to US broadcaster CNN's English translation of its interview with the president.

Chen added that the Chinese "military threat makes the notion of unification simply impossible."

Chen told the Taipei Times last week that the resumption of Taiwan-South Korea air links will not happen soon unless South Korea expresses some basic goodwill and sincerity.

"South Korea actively flatters and fawns on Beijing," he said during a dinner with a group of media executives during a two-day tour around the country.

The president, who is preparing to celebrate the second anniversary of his inauguration on Monday, accepted many foreign media interviews recently, during which he revealed a dual strategy -- expressing goodwill toward Beijing's leaders but at the same time also criticizing China's stubborn attitude.

In the past week, Chen has made two major offers to Beijing while appealing to resume the cross-strait dialogue.

He proposed sending a DPP delegation to China in a few months and he also promised to expand the scale of direct links in the fields of transportation, trade and postal services to improve the cross-strait relationship.

Chen even said that Taiwan's government would consider allowing some civil organizations to deal with the negotiations regarding direct-links issues.