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Lu tells visitors China wants to annex Taiwan

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday repeated her view that China's ambition is to annex Taiwan, to a group of visiting German parliamentarians

Lu told her visitors that she expected that Germany, which is now led by its first ever female chancellor Angela Merkel, will maintain its efforts to ensure world peace.

Lu said she appreciated the German parliament's decision last year not to allow the lifting of the arms embargo on China.

"The decision is crucial not only to Taiwan but also to the Asia-Pacific region," Lu said.

Stressing China's animosity toward Taiwan, Lu said that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), in his New Year address, noted that China has deployed 784 ballistic missiles targeted at Taiwan.

If cruise missiles are included in that count, Taiwan is now targeted by more than 800 Chinese missiles, Lu said.

"We clearly know that China wants to extend its power into the Pacific Ocean by taking Taiwan," Lu said.

Lu said she was glad to see the EU expand and that she hopes the EU's 25 members would jointly monitor the development of China's military capabilities in order to ensure peace in the region.

In his New Year address, Chen said that he would not bow to pressure from the opposition parties and China to relax his cross-strait policies. Since then, Chen's idea of "active management, effective opening" has been criticized by opposition parties.

Elaborating on the president's remarks, Presidential office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳) yesterday said that "what the president said is not about new policies, but rather a new mindset ... we are trying to significantly improve the efficiency of government management."

Huang made the remarks while meeting with foreign correspondents in Taipei to explain Chen's policies.

Huang said that Chen's past "five noes" pledges and his sincere willingness to engage in dialogue with China remain unchanged.

"The president has held out olive branches several times, but the Beijing government remains hostile to Taiwan's government," Huang said.
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