A high-ranking government policy maker said yesterday that Pre-sident Chen Shui-bian's (
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Vice Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) made the remarks yesterday while answering questions from reporters about China's current military maneuvers.
Chen Ming-tong said the current Chinese maneuvers started in April and took place in China's inland areas, such as Nanjing, rather than the coastal areas. He added, however, that "the military maneuvers could be expanded."
He stressed that the Chinese military maneuvers will continue until October, but are only a matter of routine. "The public has no reason to panic."
"To a certain degree, the president's remarks can be justified. China is limited from initiating an immediate military attack against Taiwan," Chen added.
To further explain why Chen made the controversial remarks, Chen Ming-tong said that "China has pressed Taiwan to the edge, step by step."
"Some people say that it was a bad time for the President to make such remarks. But in the light of China's oppression of Taiwan, if we don't fight back right now, when will the best time be?" Chen Ming-tong explained.
"The President's remarks were intended to awaken Taiwanese to the fact that they have the right to decide their own future and say `no' to China."
"The government is obliged to tell people how China is oppressing Taiwan."
Chen also blamed the media of giving slanted accounts of the true situation. In addition, he stressed that opinion polls have consistently shown that more than 80 percent of Taiwanese are against China's "one country, two systems" proposal.
He said that "one country, two systems" is a trick aimed at changing Taiwan's status quo and that can't be tolerated because Taiwan currently has its own sovereignty.
Chen Ming-tong also reiterated that China gave Taiwan's goodwill gestures the cold shoulder over the past two years and this forced Taiwan to fight back.
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
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