Beijing would significantly curtail the possibility of cross-strait negotiations if it insists on a unification law with Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday.
"China will encounter a certain degree of restriction and difficulty if it tries to place Taiwan policy within a legal framework. It would lose a great deal of flexibility," said council Chairman Chiu Tai-san (
Chiu's was responding to comments by Wang Zaixi (
"If China must produce such a law, it has to take into account the international community's expectations that cross-strait problems can be solved by peaceful means," Chiu said.
Beijing would face unexpected difficulties if it implemented the unification law, Chiu added.
Wang said that China had not set a 20-year timetable to unify Taiwan.
However, he warned that Bei-jing would not rule out war if President Chen Shui-bian (
"New tensions may arise and even a serious crisis in the cross-strait situation if Chen obstinately pursues his timetable," Wang said in a front-page interview with the China Daily published yesterday.
"We cannot completely rule out the possibility [of a military conflict] though it is not at all what we hope for," Wang said.
Wang added that the cross-strait political stalemate would continue during Chen's second term unless he accepted the "one China" principle.
"It would be hard for both sides to break the present political stalemate in the short term," he said.
"There will be no way for us to break the ice in political ties in the coming four years unless Chen returns to the one-China principle. What we can do is just work hard to prevent bilateral relations from deteriorating," he said.
Wang said that Taiwan's security depended on how Chen deals with the "one China" principle rather than whether he bought more aircraft and missiles from the US.
Chiu said that the council was monitoring Beijing's media, psychological and legal campaigns to bring about unification. A unification law would be part of the legal campaign, he added.
Chen, who has said on numerous occasions that constitutional reform would focus on the structure of government, said during a trip to the south of the nation on Thursday that China was attempting to lay a legal foundation for it to use force against the nation.
"Taiwan's status is defined as a `special administrative region' in Beijing's draft of the unification law. Is it right for Beijing to do this?" he asked.
"I am very concerned about the unification law ... Can our 23 million people remain unwary of this situation?" he asked.
Chen added that nearly 500,000 Hong Kong residents had taken to the street to protest against Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, an anti-subversion law, on July 1, 2003.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS