China condemns scrapping of Taiwan unification body

BEIJING/TAIPEI - China has condemned Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian  for scrapping a council on eventual unification, calling it a provocation creating further tension in one of Asia's most dangerous flashpoints.

But the statement from the Communist Party's Central Office for Taiwan Affairs and the cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office stopped short of threatening war against the self-ruled island, which Beijing has vowed to attack if it formally declares statehood.

On Monday, Chen declared an end to the National Unification Council and its 15-year-old unification guidelines, defying warnings from Beijing and Washington, the island's main arms supplier and trading partner.

The move by Taiwan's lame-duck president complicates any future talks on reunification. Taipei newspapers said it could be the first of many to bolster Chen's claim to be the leader of the island's pro-independence movement.

"His further escalation of secessionist activities will no doubt stoke tensions and trigger a serious crisis in the Straits," Beijing's state-run China Daily said in an editorial.

With two years to run in his second four-year term, Chen appears to have given up hope of reconciling with a China that refuses to deal with him directly and instead is focusing on his original independence-minded support base.

"Having achieved little during the past six years in office and with only two more to go, Chen now hopes to secure a legacy as the spiritual leader of (the) Taiwan independence movement," Taiwan's China Post said in an editorial.

Democratic Taiwan has governed itself since its split from the mainland at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

MOST URGENT TASK

China's joint statement, carried by the official Xinhua news agency, said Beijing opposed independence but was committed to peaceful unification. It pledged to boost personnel, economic and cultural exchanges as well as work for direct trade and transport links - banned by Taiwan for decades due to security fears.

"Our most urgent task now is to resolutely oppose and prevent Chen Shui-bian from engaging in 'de jure Taiwan independence' activities through 'constitutional changes'," the statement said.

The statement singled out Chen and did not attack Taiwan or Chen's Democratic Progressive Party, leaving room for maneuver in the future.

Defending his decision, Chen said in a speech marking the island's Peace Memorial Day on Tuesday that he had merely allowed Taiwan people to be their own masters.

"Did A-bian do anything wrong? Am I wrong to return the rights of the people to choose their future?" asked Chen, referring to himself by his nickname. "No!" the crowd shouted back.

But a newspaper poll showed 51 per cent of 703 people interviewed opposed scrapping the unification council, with the president's approval rating slumping to a record low 24 per cent.

Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) which favors closer ties with China, threatened parliamentary moves to impeach Chen over the move, but the chances of success were slim.

For Taiwan's 23 million people, reunification versus independence has always been a tricky issue. Opinion polls consistently show more than 80 per cent of Taiwan people prefer the status quo.

The US State Department said on Monday it would take Chen's word for it that the move meant no change in the status quo.

"It's our understanding that President Chen did not abolish it, and he reaffirmed Taiwan's commitment to the status quo," spokesman Adam Ereli said. "We attach great importance to that commitment, and we'll be following his follow-through carefully."

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 and considers the mainland communist authorities as China's sole legitimate government, but it is also obliged by law to help Taiwan defend itself.

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on Tuesday that Beijing expected stronger criticism of Chen from Washington.

"We urge the United States to grasp the severity and dangerousness of Chen Shui-bian's Taiwan independence activities," spokesman Liu Jianchao told a routine news briefing.

Liu said the United States should "send no erroneous signals to Taiwanese independence forces," but he declined to say whether he was referring to US spokesman Ereli's comments.

- REUTERS