Mon, Mar 13, 2006 page3

• Lu urges legislature to counter Beijing's build-up

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Describing China's "Anti-Secession" Law as "sugar-coated poison," Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) called on the legislature yesterday to enact a Taiwanese version to counter what she called the "six forms of warfare" waged by Beijing.

  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whips said they would introduce a draft bill soon.

  Lu said the Anti-Secession Law is the Chinese version of the US' "Taiwan Relations Act." Under the law, she said, peace in the Taiwan Strait is only possible if Taiwan accepts unification with China.

  Article 2 of the law stipulates that it is the common obligation of all Chinese people, including "Taiwan compatriots," to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The law says that "Taiwan is part of China" and that "Beijing shall never allow the Taiwan independence secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from China under any name or by any means."

  As the law opposes Taiwan's independence and empowers China to adopt non-peaceful measures to "protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Lu said the law constitutes a quasi-war situation. She said the image of peace set forth in the law is hypocritical.

  Lu listed Beijing "six forms of warfare" against Taiwan as military, economic, diplomatic, opinion, psychological and legal.

  She noted that Beijing has dramatically increased the number of missiles deployed against Taiwan over the years from 40 in 1996 to 200 in 2000, 400 in 2004 and 784 this year.

  China's military also outnumbers Taiwan's with 1.6 million soldiers in its army, including 375,000 deployed against Taiwan, while Taiwan has just 200,000, she said.

  There are 290,000 people in China's navy, with 140,000 deployed against Taiwan, while Taiwan has only 60,000 in it navy, she said, and China's air force has 2,780 fighter jets, while Taiwan has 460.

  In order to strengthen its special combat readiness, Lu said that China has set up "Taiwan region" training bases in Gansu, Anhui and Hubei provinces, with training programs focusing on how to commandeer Taiwan's airports and other specific targets.

  She reminded people that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has said that Beijing is waging three forms of warfare against Taiwan -- legal, public opinion and psychological warfare -- and that China is augmenting its combat readiness in a three-stage preparation for war.

  China has set a goal of establishing contingency-response combat capabilities by next year, building up its combat capabilities for large-scale military engagement by 2010 and ensuring victory in a decisive battle by 2015, she said.

  Lu said Beijing plans to extend its strategic ocean boundaries to the first "island chain" in the beginning of the 21st century and make inroad into the second "island chain" in 2050.

  China's military spending has skyrocketed from US$20 billion in 2002 to US$35 billion this year, Lu said, while Taiwan has been cutting back on military spending. Taiwan's military expenditure in 2002 was US$7.6 billion and about the same this year.

  Some have predicted that Taiwan's economy would collapse within a week if Beijing halted all exchanges with Taiwan, because of the scope of Taiwanese investment in China, she said.

  The Chinese government is also planning to build an "economic zone on the west side of the Taiwan Strait" and set up a "Taimin special zone" that groups Taiwan and Fujian Province as one area.
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