China will "uncompromisingly" oppose any moves towards independence by Taiwan, Premier Wen Jiabao (
"We will uncompromisingly oppose secessionist activities aimed at Taiwan independence," Wen told the opening day of the National People's Congress annual session.
Tensions rose last week after President Chen Shui-bian (
The council was considered largely symbolic and had been dormant since 2000 but Chen's decision infuriated Beijing, which accused him of pushing the region toward disaster.
"Everyone wants cross-strait relations to be peaceful and stable, and develop to the mutual benefit of both sides," Wen said.
"Anyone who tries to reverse this major trend will most certainly fail. It is the common wish of all Chinese people to see the ultimate realization of the great cause of national reunification, a process that no one can stop," he said.
New Tone
However Wen did not directly threaten any military action if Taipei were to formally break away, in line with generally toned-down rhetoric that China is employing so as not to give ammunition to Taiwan's independence supporters.
Parliament last year passed an "Anti-Secession" Law that it asserts gives its military the legal basis to attack Taiwan if it "moves toward independence."
The law allows the use of "non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity" if all else fails.
Wen's comments on Taiwan, made toward the end of a wide-ranging two-hour speech, received one of the loudest rounds of applause from the 2,927 delegates to the congress.
One delegate, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) official, was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying the army resolutely opposed "Taiwan's independence" and will be prepared for a battle if the situation came to that.
Military plans
"We shall make ample preparations for a military fight. When the party and people call on us to fulfill our duty, we can live up to their expectations," Lieutenant General Huang Cisheng (
But he added the PLA will follow President Hu Jintao's (
Another military delegate, Major General Deng Xiaohong (
China's vast countryside is home to 800 million of its 1.3 billion people, many of whom have failed to share in the fruits of the booming economy. Government promises to spread prosperity have taken on special urgency amid mounting rural anger over chronic poverty, corruption and other problems.
Despite pledging to focus investment on the rural hinterlands, Wen made no direct mention of the abuses that have sparked unrest, particularly land seizures for factories and other projects and complaints that farmers are paid too little compensation.
A 15,000-member security force was deployed around the hall to block protests, and pedestrians were stopped and questioned.
The budget for the country's 2.5 million-member armed forces also received a 14.7 percent increase to 283.8 billion yuan (US$35.3 billion).
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ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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