Delivering the main opening address to China's National People's Congress (NPC) yesterday morning, Premier Wen Jiabao (
His comments came as the NPC prepared to consider an "anti-secession" law that would likely mandate a military response if Taiwan formally seceded from China. The measure is the culmination of a show of resolve by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) after he became China's military leader late last year.
Wen gave no details of the planned law, which Taipei says could set the stage for a military attack.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Wen said the law reflected the "strong determination of the Chinese people to ... never allow secessionist forces working for `Taiwan independence' to separate Taiwan from China."
Wen's two-hour speech, interrupted repeatedly by applause, focused on domestic concerns. But in a passing reference to foreign affairs, Wen sounded standard themes, saying China would oppose terrorism and hegemony -- Beijing's term for sweeping US global power.
Wen vowed to push forward with the costly modernization of the huge but antiquated People's Liberation Army, whose 2.5 million members make up the world's biggest fighting force.
On Friday the government announced a 12.6 percent increase in military spending -- its fourth double-digit increase in five years as it tries to back up threats to attack Taiwan.
It said it plans to spend 247.7 billion yuan (US$30 billion) on its military this year, though analysts say China's true spending is as much as several times the reported figure.
Wen said military modernization was key to "safeguarding national security and reunification" -- a reference to Taiwan.
"We will intensify scientific and technical training for soldiers to turn out a new type of highly competent military personnel," Wen said.
On Friday, Hu also took a militant stance against what he called "secessionist forces" in Taiwan, but also cited "new and positive factors" that could reduce cross-strait tensions.
Making rare extended comments about Taiwan to NPC delegates on Friday, Hu reiterated a hard line on Taiwanese independence, which he said China would "never tolerate." The comments appeared to underscore his plan to pass the anti-secession law. But he did not mention the legislation, describe its contents, or discuss the merits of enacting it.
Instead, he struck a relatively moderate tone, perhaps reflecting the fact that Taiwan and China, under heavy US pressure, have softened their rivalry since Hu first broached the idea of the law in December.
Hu said there were "certain signs of relaxation" in Taiwan's approach. While he did not specify the developments, he appeared to be referring to a shift in tone by President Chen Shui-bian (
Hu seemed to signal that he was willing to open a dialogue with Chen, though only under the strict conditions China has set for talks for many years -- that Taiwan accept the "one China" policy.
"No matter who he is and which political party it is, and no matter what they said and did in the past, we're willing to talk with them on issues of developing cross-strait relations and promoting peaceful reunification as long as they recognize the one-China principle," Hu said.
The comments do not amount to a substantive concession and may be overshadowed by passage of the anti-secession law, which both Taipei and Washington have called a provocation. But the tone of the comments suggest that Hu is probing for an improvement in relations.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS