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Beijing lashes out at `secessionist' Chen

The Chinese government said yesterday that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was trying to ruin bilateral ties, as it reacted angrily to his New Year message insisting the nation was not part of China, state media reported.

An unnamed spokesman from Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office also reiterated that China would never allow Taiwan to formally break away, the People's Daily reported.

"Chen intends to unreasonably restrict cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, worsen the atmosphere of cross-strait relations, and ruin the peaceful and stable development of cross-strait ties," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

"We will be highly vigilant to any secessionist moves and never allow secessionists to separate Taiwan from the motherland in any name or by any way," he said.

Chen said on Monday in a New Year's message that the nation's sovereignty lay in its own hands.

"Hereby we must stress that Taiwan is our country. Taiwan's sovereignty belongs to 23 million people. It definitely does not belong to the People's Republic of China," Chen said after a national flag-hoisting ceremony.

"Only the 23 million have the right to decide on the future of Taiwan. Taiwan is part of the world but not part of China," he said.

His remarks came after China issued a key defense paper arguing it needs a strong and credible military and citing security challenges it said it cannot ignore, such as Taiwan's independence drive.
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