President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday urged China to forsake its ambition to attack Taiwan by force, saying Taiwan will not change the status quo if China ceases its threats.
He said that China's unwillingness to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, its attempts to isolate Taiwan in the international community and its failure to respect Taiwan's wish to decide its own future have pushed the two sides further apart.
Chen's hardening line toward China follows two other recent speeches in which the president said Taiwan would have to "go its own way" if China refuses to reciprocate Taiwan's goodwill.
"As long as China is willing to abandon its threats to Taiwan, we will not alter Taiwan's status quo. But unfortunately, Beijing does not understand the feelings of Tai-wanese. They have repeatedly hurt our feelings," Chen said at the DPP Central Executive Committee, the first one presided over by him as the party's chairman.
Chen also said yesterday that the DPP's "1999 resolution regarding Taiwan's future" (台灣前途決議文) is the party's top principle when dealing with cross-strait issues.
The resolution declares that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state whose name was the ROC. Any changes regarding this independent status quo must be collectively determined by all people in Taiwan through a public referendum.
"Taiwan has never been a part of the People's Republic of China. The Beijing regime can not compel the people of Taiwan to accept any of its unilateral claims, nor is doing so compatible with the fundamental ideals of international human rights," Chen said.
The president said that since he took power two years ago, he has expressed maximum goodwill to China, but that this goodwill should be based on the premise that Beijing would renounce its military intimidation of Taiwan.
Chen said he hopes to normalize cross-strait relations and push for party-to-party dialogue with China.
Chen said a nation with pride and social justice should be built upon a foundation of trust and that any responsible party should work together with the people to achieve this goal.
"Taiwan's future is in the hands of its 23 million people. No onecan change or deprive the right of Taiwanese to express themselves and defend their status and pride."
On July 21, when Chen took the reins of the DPP, China angered Taiwan with the surprise announcement that the Pacific island state of Nauru, one of Taiwan's few diplomatic allies, was establishing diplomatic ties with China.
Chen's recent remarks have been perceived as a shift in cross-strait policy, in the hope of fostering a breakthrough on the issue before the end of Chen's term.
China has not yet made an official response to Chen's comments, though the Deputy Spokesman of China's Taiwan Affairs Office Li Weiyi (
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