Pro-independence forces in Taiwan might launch terrorist attacks on China, Chinese state media charged yesterday as it linked Taiwan to the banned "evil cult" Falun Gong.
In what appeared to be a new campaign to blacken the name of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), the China Daily ran an opinion piece headlined "Terrorism part of Taiwan separatist agenda."
Citing military experts and researchers on Taiwan studies, it said terrorism could be used "in an attempt to split the island from China."
It also condemned the US "for instigating Taipei to engage in terrorism to hurt China's core national interests."
The article was published a day after a group of legislators led by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) left for the US to study options for planned billion-dollar weapons purchases. This week Taiwan also tested two US-made Patriot missiles.
It also follows a Pentagon report suggesting that Taiwan needs ballistic missiles and land-attack cruise missiles capable of hitting China as a "cost-effective means of deterrence."
Targets that were cited include the massive Three Gorges Dam and the 468m-high Oriental Pearl TV tower in Shanghai.
A Beijing-based military expert identified as Yan Dong (嚴冬) was quoted in the China Daily as saying the attack scenarios exposed the tip of the iceberg of "Taiwan independence terrorism."
"That may well suggest pro-independence forces in Taiwan are turning to terrorist measures to help pursue their political goal of formal independence for the island," Yan said.
Yan argued that the Taiwanese military might be planning terrorist attacks "on state leaders, media organizations, nuclear-power plants and hydroelectric projects on the mainland."
"That's because splittist forces are increasingly feeling they cannot win a cross-strait war, given the mainland's growing economic and military power," he said.
The report went as far as linking Taiwan independence forces to the Falun Gong, saying Taiwan separatists "once supported the outlawed Falun Gong cult to hijack mainland satellite TV programs from the island in September 2002."
Li Jiaquan (
"As Taiwan's biggest arms supplier, Washington has always been playing an ignominious role on the Taiwan issue by lending covert or overt support to pro-independence forces in Taiwan," he told the China Daily. "It is shameless for the United States, which has been urging a global anti-terrorism campaign, to encourage Taipei to promote terrorism."
Taiwan's defense ministry spokesman, Major-General Huang Suei-sheng (黃穗生), declined to comment.
"It is our policy not to comment on any opinion piece," Huang said.
But a high-ranking military officer, who asked not to be named, yesterday said the report was "too ridiculous to warrant comment."
Additional reporting by Lindy Yeh
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS