China yesterday branded President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) policies the "greatest threat to peace and stability" in the region only hours after he was inaugurated.
"Chen Shui-bian's provocative pro-independence activities form the biggest current threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits," the foreign ministry statement said.
The comments came after Chen was sworn in for a second term as president. In his speech, Chen promised to keep independence off the political agenda, but China appeared unimpressed with his conciliatory approach.
"We stick to the basic policy of `peaceful reunification' and `one country, two systems,' and are willing to strive for a peaceful solution of the Taiwan issue with the greatest sincerity and effort," the statement said.
"But we will absolutely not tolerate Taiwan's independence. That position is firm and unshakable," it said.
China also took a swipe at the US, after Washington said its harsh language on Taiwan had "no place in international civilized discourse."
"The US should not send the wrong signals to `Taiwanese independence forces,'" the statement said.
Analysts said Beijing did not trust Chen and would want to see concrete action to back his words.
"China no longer trusts him. It doesn't care what he says. What matters are his actions," said Wu Nengyuan (
"His goal for Taiwanese independence hasn't changed. This is what the Chinese government was worried about. I'm not optimistic about cross-strait relations. I expect there will be intense confrontation, a crisis coming. It depends on what Chen does. If he pushes Taiwanese independence past China's baseline, then it's dangerous," Wu said.
"He talks about building a mutually beneficial relationship with China. He talks about building mutual trust. It's a very smart declaration. It'll be difficult for China," he said.
"The Chinese side has to ac-knowledge the fact they have to deal with Chen in the next four years. There's no longer any politician in Taiwan they can rely on for reunification because there's no one that stands for reunification," Wu said.
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