Tue, Jan 20, 2004 page3

• DPP says China's reaction to referendum is old hat

  • By Chang Yun-ping and Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTERS
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  The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said Beijing's comments on the content of Taiwan's election-day referendum did not show any changes to its stance and merely reflected its stated policy.

  Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday said Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan's (唐家璇) response to the wording of the referendum questions reflected only its guilty conscience toward the anticipated result of the referendum -- that the people of Taiwan will say no to China's rule.

  "Although China has said it places hope upon the people of Taiwan [to realize peaceful unification], it nevertheless opposes Taiwanese people's exercising a referendum because it knows already that the people of Taiwan will reject being ruled by China," Lu said yesterday during a press briefing with reporters.

  At the ninth anniversary of the announcement of the former Chinese president Jiang Zemin's (江澤民) "Eight Points," Tang said Taiwan's referendum is a "provocation" in cross-strait relations.

  In addition to reiterating the "one China" principle, Tang repeated Beijing's stated policies that China will continue to push for "peaceful reunification" with Tai-wan, promote the "one country, two systems" formula and remain steadfast on Jiang's "Eight Points" guidelines.

  Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday that Tang's stance was "irrational" and "unacceptable."

  "If such a gentle way of expressing our opinion is deemed provocative, then any effort we make to deepen our democracy can be misconstrued as a provocation," Lin said.

  Lin also dismissed the "one China" policy, which Tang said was the precondition for cross-strait negotiations.

  "If we accede to follow the rules it sets down, it will only lead to the nation's defeat at the negotiation table," Lin said.

  "If China wants us to recognize the `one China' policy as the premise of cross-strait negotiations, isn't it fair for us to ask them to renounce the use of force against us, put aside political differences and deepen its democracy?

  "I don't think any elected president can accept the proposal to use our sovereignty, land and people to exchange for transient and ersatz peace and security across the Taiwan Strait," he said.

  If the public and politicians do not correct the illusion, Lin said, the nation is bound to fall into the snare of Beijing's negotiating plot.

  "If they really care about the voice of our people, they should've let us hold the nation's first national referendum instead of vilifying and blocking it," he said.

  Lin also called on the public to learn a lesson from the mistake Hong Kong made.

  "We shouldn't make the same mistake Hong Kong made. It believed that it would prosper under the `one country, two systems' formula, but it didn't," he said. "Once we go down that road, our democratic development and national security will be gone forever."

  Lu said yesterday China had inverted the cause and effect in opposing Taiwan's referendum.

  "It is not that Taiwan's holding of a referendum leads to China's missile deployments against Taiwan. Rather, it is China that initiates all kinds of threats and hostility toward Taiwan in the first place," Lu said.

  She reiterated that President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "five noes" pledge comes with a precondition, which is China must not use force against Taiwan.

  "But China has violated this rule in the first place," Lu said.

  Moreover, Lu said the validity of Chen's "five noes" pledge, which was made on May 20, 2000, in Chen's inauguration speech, will stay in effect only until May 19 this year. Any new rules defining cross-strait relations after May 19 this year will depend on how the new president gauges the situation.

  Lu also expressed optimism about international support for the referendum.

  "I have observed that many countries, including [China], believe that President Chen is capable of holding the referendum alongside the election and the underlying meaning of this belief signifies the confidence of the world in Chen's re-election. And therefore, what the international community now cares about is what President Chen will say in his May 20 inauguration speech," Lu said.

  Chairman of the DPP's China Affairs Department Chen Chung- (陳忠信) yesterday said China's response to Taiwan's holding a referendum demonstrated that Beijing was reluctant to further strain cross-strait ties.
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