The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday called on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to form an "Anti-Annexation Commission" to mark the 10th anniversary of the 1996 cross-strait missile crisis.
"In order to make the appeal `Annexation, No; Independence, Yes' heard by the international community, the government should set up such a commission," TSU Legislator Tseng Tsahn-deng (曾燦燈) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
Tseng said that the commission would be charged with the mission of achieving the goal of national independence through peaceful means.
"The president's decision to cause the National Unification Council to cease to function doesn't go far enough," he said.
"We need a new institution and guidelines to deal with cross-strait relations in the next 10 years," Tseng said.
China fired ballistic missiles into the Taiwan Strait in March 1996 to intimidate Taiwanese voters ahead of the nation's first presidential election, he said.
"We can't rule out the possibility that China will have an even more fierce military reaction [this time], as it has recently said that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory," he said.
"In this regard, we have to make `anti-annexation' a clear priority," Tseng said.
He said that the government should also promote an "anti-annexation principle" to counter the "one China" principle, which has gained wide acceptance in the international community.
The TSU also suggested that the government give preference to the expression "Taiwan-China relations," and abandon the term "cross-strait relations." The term "cross-strait relations" is ambiguous, as it does not give a clear indication that Taiwan and China are two separate countries, it said.
Tseng said that the TSU would soon table a draft proposal on the anti-annexation commission in the legislature.
In related news, at a forum on the 1996 crisis held by the Northern Taiwan Society last night in Taipei, former president Lee Teng-hui (
"China is eyeing Taiwan's 2008 presidential election and attempting to help the candidate it wants to become its agent in Taiwan to further deprive Taiwan of its hard-won democracy and freedom," Lee said. "You all know clearly who I am talking about. I don't have to name him."
Looking back at the 1996 missile crisis, Lee said that although China had fired missiles into the Strait Taiwan in an attempt to scare voters in the nation's first presidential election, the people had shown their wisdom and courage and voted anyway.
"The year 1996 was not only a year of darkness but also a year of pride and honor for the people of Taiwan," Lee said.
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