President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called on China to dismantle the 400 missiles it has deployed along its southeastern coast so the rivals can seek peace and closer trade ties.
In the post-Cold War era, the two sides should give up the old mentality of resolving disputes by war, Chen said.
"Trade normalization will be a starting point for political thawing," Chen said in a statement.
"Both sides have strong consensus about pursuing mutual economic interests," he said. "So let's shake hands to end brutality and nurture peace to foster mutual prosperity."
Under pressure from bus-inesses, leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have recently made overtures to discuss reopening direct links.
But progress has been stalled partly by Taiwan's concerns that the transportation links could open a hole in its defenses against China.
Taiwan has repeatedly called on China to renounce the use of force. Chen's latest call could be aimed at increasing pressure on China while also warning Taiwanese against wishful thinking about their neighbor.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said Taiwan does not foresee a military invasion by China, because Beijing is seeking to integrate itself into the international community.
"What we fear is conflict triggered by an accidental firing of the missiles," Chien told reporters.
Officials say China has deployed 400 ballistic missiles at its two key missile bases -- Qingjiang base in Jiangxi Province and Xianyou base in Fujian Province. The missiles have ranges of 400km or more.
A Ministry of National Defense official, speaking on customary anonymity, said 20 to 40 of the surface-to-surface missiles would be enough to destroy Taiwan's government and business centers and are a form of "psychological warfare."
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