Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) will consider a proposal to introduce legislation mandating eventual unification with Taiwan, the semi-official China News Service said in a report yesterday.
The adoption of such a law, Chinese analysts said, would legally bind Chinese leaders to their pledge to order the 2.5-million-strong People's Liberation Army to attack the self-ruled, democratic nation if it formally declares statehood.
In a meeting with ethnic Chinese living in England, Wen heard a proposal from 76-year-old Shan Sheng that China's parliament should draft and adopt a unification law to prevent Taiwan from edging towards independence, the China News Service said.
"Your view on unification of the motherland is very important, very important. We will seriously consider it," Wen was quoted as saying.
Unification "is more important than our lives", Wen told Chinese embassy staff in London on Sunday. He did not repeat China's longstanding threat to use force against the nation of 23 million people.
"I deeply believe that one day Taiwan will return to the embrace of the motherland. This is a historical inevitability that cannot be blocked by any force," Wen said. He did not elaborate.
Beijing has warned of war if President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen, who is due to start his second four-year term on May 20, has been testing Beijing's patience with plans to hold a referendum on a new constitution in 2006 and adopt it in 2008.
Chen says the new constitution is aimed at deepening democracy in Taiwan. Beijing sees it as a formal declaration of statehood.
The law, analysts said, was necessary in the face of growing calls for Taiwan's independence.
"It is something we must face and resolve," said Zhu Xianlong (
"The unification law will define what is Taiwan's independence and specify corresponding measures," he said. "It will be legally binding. The use of force will be an important but last resort."
China was opposed to any plans by member nations of the World Health Organization (WHO) to invite Taiwan to a WHO conference as an observer, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) as saying.
The meeting of the WHO's decision-making body is to be held in Geneva from May 17 to May 22.
To underscore China's claim of sovereignty, Beijing had invited health experts from Taiwan to attend the WHO conference as part of the Chinese delegation, but Taiwan did not respond, Liu said.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
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