Taiwan government: China's Anti-Separation Law reveals essence of military aggression

Through legislation, Chinese authorities intend to deny the Republic of China (Taiwan) its sovereignty and unilaterally change the status quo. They have already created tension in the region and justify the concern of both the international community and the Taiwanese Government over China's motives.

This law exposes China's intent to use military force to annex Taiwan and dominate the region. It has essentially written a blank cheque for its military to resort to military force against Taiwan.

The Taiwanese Government offers the strongest protest regarding the disruption of peace in the East Asian region and stability in the Taiwan Strait, ignoring of the Taiwanese people's will and encroachment of the Taiwanese people's freedom of choice through ill intentions and violent measures.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), firmly states that the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation and both sides of the Strait have no jurisdiction over one another. The Taiwanese people cannot accept China's "one country, two systems" arrangement.

Any changes to the status quo must require the consensus of the twenty-three million Taiwanese people and the Chinese authorities must accept this fact. The Chinese authorities deliberately attempt to unrealistically dwarf Taiwan by legislating the "one China policy" and "one country, two systems," and persist on adopting non-peaceful measures to solve cross-strait conflicts.

The MAC stresses that the direct-presidential election in Taiwan in 1996 was an important process in deepening democratisation in Taiwan. The international community should still be able to recall China's military intimidation by launching missiles in the Taiwan Strait and igniting anxiety on all fronts. The Chinese authorities now may resort to methods of violence against Taiwan. This will inevitably endanger peace and security in Taiwan Strait and the East Asian region.

The Republic of China pursues free democracy and has always received high-level recognition from the international community. The Taiwanese government believes that the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom and democracy throughout the world.

This is the biggest difference between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. The MAC stresses that the collective will of the Taiwanese people is expressed through democratic processes. But the Chinese authorities intend to suppress the Taiwanese people with "non-peaceful" and "non-democratic" measures.

In the past five years, the Taiwanese Government has made many efforts to improve cross-strait relations. Concrete suggestions for constructing cross-strait peace and stability have been proposed in cross-strait exchanges and dialogues, yet the Chinese authorities completely dismiss the Taiwanese Government's continuous efforts in improving cross-strait relations by formulating this law and creating barriers against further cross-strait exchanges and resumption of dialogues.

The Taiwanese Government would like to appeal to the international community again to challenge China's behavior of "saying one thing and doing another" and take concrete actions to assist in safeguarding the present peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.