Taiwan leader warns China of more moves toward independence

Mar 2, 2007, 8:55 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Friday warned China's leaders that his island was 'very likely ... to take more actions toward further independence' and that China itself was to blame.

China's missile deployments and 'very hostile posture toward Taiwan' would drive the island's 23 million people toward more autonomy, Chen said in an exclusive interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Taipei.

'For the people of Taiwan, we see our country as an independent, sovereign state,' he said.

Chen also warned of China's military buildup, saying it and Beijing's stance toward Taiwan posed a threat to the Asia-Pacific.

'Instead of a peaceful emergence of China, as it claims, we see it as a military emergence of China,' the president charged, pointing to the 988 missiles China has on its coast across from Taiwan.

The number of China's missiles facing Taiwan has increased fivefold since Chen took office in 2000 and continues to increase at the rate of 100 to 120 annually, he said.

The missiles as well as China's refusal to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and the Anti-Secession Law China passed in March 2005 have laid 'a legal foundation for a future military invasion of Taiwan' and 'are truly provocative gestures,' Chen said.

'In the foreseeable future, I don't think that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will go for unification,' he added. 'Quite the contrary, it is very likely that the actions taken by Beijing authorities will force the people of Taiwan to take more actions toward further independence.'

Chen blamed China's stance toward Taiwan as fomenting support for independence on the island.

He said that because of China's military buildup, its refusal to recognize Taiwan's formal existence and its blockage of Taiwan's efforts to rejoin the United Nations and launch diplomatic ties with other nations, 'it has made Taiwan people more and more aware of their own national identity. Moreover, it has prompted the people to be more persistent in adopting this Taiwan-centric consciousness.'

China sees Taiwan as its breakaway province and has been seeking the reunification between it and the island, whose Republic of China government was set up by the Chinese Nationalists in 1949 when they fled to Taiwan to set up their government in exile after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists.

The Nationalists ruled Taiwan until 2000 when independence-minded Chen of the Taiwan native Democratic Progressive Party won the presidential election.

Chen has been promoting Taiwan as a sovereign state and has recently launched a name-change campaign to remove 'China' and 'Chinese' from the names of enterprises, the postal service and Taiwan's stamps.

China, in the meantime, has warned that it would not sit idly by if Taipei seeks formal independence from China or indefinitely delays reunification with the mainland.

In the interview, Chen thanked the United Sates and Japan for helping boost the island's defences but stressed that Taiwan must depend on itself for its defence.

'We have an old saying that goes 'If one sits and waits for heavenly provisions, one would starve to death,' so if you only rely on others to defend your country, you are bound to be defeated,' Chen said.

Chen said Taiwan has no intention of engaging in any kind of arms race with China but must enhance its national defence capabilities.

He added, however, that the best defence for Taiwan is not weapons, but democracy.

'We believe that Taiwan's democracy is a success story and Taiwan's democracy serves as the best missile defence for Taiwan,' he said. 'Taiwan's success in democracy also is a lighthouse to the 1.3 billion people of China.'