Chen Shuibian is a hero in need of support

Dynasty Warriors is Pro-China

Taiwan Eliminates Reunification Council

By Edward Cody
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, February 27, 2006; 12:15 PM

BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- Defying warnings from China and the United States, Taiwan eliminated its National Unification Council Monday, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide whether they want to rejoin the mainland.

The decision was expected to have little immediate impact on how the independence-minded President Chen Shui-bian governs; The 16-year-old council has long been dormant, and there is no prospect of reunification anytime soon. But scrapping it, along with a set of reunification guidelines, dramatized Chen's resolve to lead the self-governing island toward formal independence no matter what Beijing and Washington say.

The move also seemed likely to blow chilly winds into what had been a slightly improving atmosphere between China and Taiwan. Charter flights were allowed to carry families directly to and from Taiwan during the recent Spring Festival, for instance, and negotiators last week said prospects were bright for an agreement to allow more such direct flights for ordinary tourists.

Chen had promised repeatedly since his ascension to the presidency in 2000 to keep the reunification body in place. The promise was one of several undertaken by Chen to allay fears that his ardent nationalism could lead him to make reckless decisions that would raise the danger of conflict in the Taiwan Strait. His decision on the council raised fears he could be tempted to go back on other issues as well, such as revising the constitution, for instance, or changing the island's formal name from Republic of China to Taiwan.

China had no reaction Monday night. But Beijing's cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement Sunday that Chen's plans to do away with the council were a dangerous step designed to move along the path toward de jure independence.

"The escalated secessionist push of Chen Shui-bian will certainly trigger a serious crisis across the Taiwan Strait and destroy peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region," China's policy-making body warned.

The Bush administration had urged Chen to refrain from any decision that could be read as a change in the status quo. Against that background, Chen said specifically that his move does not amount to such a change. Nevertheless, he declared the council has "ceased to function" and the guidelines have "ceased to apply."

Ten days ago, the White House dispatched Dennis Wilder, an Asia specialist on the National Security Council, and Clifford Hart, who handles Taiwan affairs at the State Department, to Taipei for an unannounced meeting with Chen to press the U.S. case against such a move, according to Taiwanese news reports.

But Chen rejected the U.S. appeals, the reports said. He followed up last week by telling a visiting U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.), that the reunification council and guidelines were "absurd products of an absurd era." They violate Taiwan's national sovereignty and deprive Taiwan's 23 million citizens of their right to decide on cross-strait relations, Chen said in remarks to Simmons broadcast on Taiwanese television.

The 13,500-square-mile island, which sits 100 miles south of the Chinese coast, in practice has been self-ruled since Chiang Kai-shek fled there in 1949 after his defeat by Mao Zedong's Communist forces. But China has warned it will prevent, by force if necessary, any move to declare formal independence.

The reunification council was set up in 1990 by the then-governing Nationalist Party, along with a set of guidelines, as a show of conciliation and willingness to rejoin the mainland under certain conditions, including evolution toward democracy. Since then, Taiwan's political landscape has changed dramatically, particularly with Chen's election in 2000 and re-election in 2004 on an unabashedly pro-independence platform. He and his Democratic Progressive Party repeatedly have emphasized their ambition of full, formal independence, outraging China and irritating the Bush administration.

The United States follows a one-China policy and has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it has pledged through the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself. With the U.S. military absorbed by the guerrilla war in Iraq, the last thing American officials need is a new crisis in the Taiwan Strait.

In addition, President Hu Jintao, the Chinese leader, has scheduled a visit to Washington for April 19-20. Chen's decision and the likely fallout wove an unwelcome backdrop for that visit, calling attention to China's threat of military force and the United States' resolve to defend Taiwan.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office accused Chen of deliberately provoking a crisis to divert attention from domestic political troubles, including corruption charges leveled at Democratic Progressive Party officials involved in a multimillion-dollar high-speed train project. Other analysts have suggested setbacks in recent local elections led him to accentuate his militantly pro-independence attitude as a way to rally party loyalists.

Special correspondent Tim Culpan in Taipei contributed to this report.

Comments: Yes, We win! The Chinks in Chinkistan can't do anything! haha

Speaking of Action, the United States has shown time and time again that they support Taiwan, meanwhile putting sanctions on sectors of China's businesses and other 'endeavors'. If anything, its okay that we get the mandatory US->China Kissup, but reaping all the benefits at the same time. Worse is China's position, which gets empty words.

Ahahaha

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Su said he invented the term in order to break the cross-strait deadlock and alleviate tension.

"[Then president] Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) was not in the know when the term was invented. Lee found out about it later from the newspaper, but he never mentioned later that it was improper," said Su, who was chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council at the time.

Su made the remarks yesterday in response to Lee who, during a Taiwan Solidarity Union seminar on Monday, said that the so-called "1992 consensus" was a fiction.

"Little monkey boy's trying to make up history," Lee said of Su, daring him to respond on the matter.

When asked by reporters for a response yesterday, Su said he did invent the term, which was meant to encourage observers to think that "each side has its own interpretation on the meaning of `one China.'"

"Little monkey boy's trying to make up history."

Lee Teng-hui, former president

The term "1992 consensus" is controversial. The KMT has insisted on the existence of a "consensus" between Taiwan and China during a meeting in Hong Kong in November 1992 that both sides should adhere to the "one China" principle.

Since the term appeared, however, the DPP government has insisted that no such consensus existed.

Stating that "no consensus" was reached on the definition of "one China" during the 1992 meeting, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has said that the "1992 meeting" would be a more appropriate term to describe the conference in Hong Kong.

Su said he made up the term "1992 consensus" as a replacement for the expression "each side with its own interpretation" in order to benefit cross-strait development.

"The wording `each side with its own interpretation' of the `one China' principle" had been used from 1992 to 2000. But China didn't like the `each side with its own interpretation' part and the DPP government didn't like the part that said `one China,'" Su said.

"On account of these differences and the fact they could have led to more cross-strait tension after the DPP took power, I suggested the new term as a common point that was acceptable to both sides so that Taiwan and China could keep up cross-strait exchanges," he said.