China prods Taiwan's Chen, condemns VP-elect

Outspoken remarks by Annette Lu (left) led to insults from Beijing, while president-elect Chen Shui-bian has been spared from direct attack

April 12, 2000
Web posted at: 10:59 a.m. HKT (0259 GMT)

BEIJING -- Though he doesn't take office until late May, Taiwan's president-elect Chen Shui-bian is facing his first political storm as China has ended a period of relative restraint and launched a vicious verbal attack on his running mate, vice president-elect Annette Lu.

Chinese state media also urged Taipei to give a "full answer" to Beijing's demands that it recognize the island as part of a united China.

The genesis of China's anger is a series of blunt statements from Lu, long an outspoken supporter of independence for Taiwan.

"They want us to accept reunification, but 90 percent of Taiwanese would oppose it, Lu said. "That's just a fact."

AUDIO Andrew Yang from the Taipai Institute of Strategic Studies comments on Chen Shui-bian's situation 198k/17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Taiwanese statehood?

"21st century leaders shouldn't have to follow 18th century concepts," she continued. "Look at Europe. Countries there split up all the time." Chinese state media reacted with torrent of vitriol against Lu, calling her a "die hard" advocate of Taiwan independence.

"Taiwan's new leader cannot merely take a posture but can only win trust by taking actions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told a news conference, without mentioning President-elect Chen Shui-bian by name.

Sun reiterated Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen's demand last week that Chen give a "full response" to Beijing's demand he embrace the "one China" policy as a precondition for cross-Strait talks.

"We want a full answer to this main question, not a response to other specific issues," Sun said.

"If only the one-China principle is accepted, then all other concrete issues are easy to discuss."

Beijing demands one China,

Beijing demands that Chen embrace the "one China" policy -- that Taiwan and the mainland are parts of a united China -- as a precondition for cross-strait talks. Beijing threatens to invade if Taiwan declares independence or delays reconciliation talks.

Chen has offered to hold talks with Chinese leaders and said he is willing to discuss the "one China" policy. But so far he has refused to embrace Beijing's formula.

Asked to define "one China," Sun said: "The People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China."

The remark removed ambiguity over the definition of China. Groundbreaking talks between the two sides in the early 1990s proceeded under a tacit formula that let Beijing and Taipei define one China their own way.

China has branded vice president-elect Annette Lu a "traitor" and "scum of the earth" for remarks she made to a Hong Kong television station

Chen spared vitriol

Chen, who has toned down his own once-strong backing for independence in the hope of improving ties with the mainland, has so far been spared the vitriolic campaign launched against his vice-president-elect, but the outspoken remarks have created a serious headache.

"People expect that not only the president-elect himself, but also all his important aides -- especially his vice president -- will follow the same line," said Chu Yun-han of the National Taiwan University.

Last week, China branded Lu a "traitor" and "scum of the nation" for her remarks to a Hong Kong television station that highlighted the distinct histories of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Lu's comments that Taiwan and the mainland were close geographically but that history had made them distant relatives made it "clear she wants to push the people of Taiwan into the abyss of war," the official People's Daily said.

Television news on Tuesday quoted another People's Daily commentary to be published on Wednesday as saying her statement represented a clear challenge to the "one China" principle.

"Taiwan's new leaders must face reality, grasp the situation, abandon Taiwan independence for real and accept the 'one China' principle," it quoted the newspaper as saying.

"The safety or danger of people on Taiwan island, the prosperity or deterioration of cross-Strait relations and the political future of the new leaders depend on this," it said.

On Saturday, Lu called China's criticism a distortion of fact, saying she wanted to improve ties with Beijing.

Chen and Lu of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party were swept to power on March 18 in an election that ended 55 years of Nationalist Party rule.

He has softpedalled the independence issue recently to avoid provoking Beijing, which has not yet attacked him directly.

China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since the defeated Nationalists fled to the island at the end of the civil war in 1949.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Chen Shui-bian's campaign homepage (in Chinese)
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Lien Chan's campaign homepage (in Chinese)
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James Soong's campaign homepage (in Chinese)
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The Office of the President of the Republic of China
Democratic Progressive Party
Kuomintang Party
CIA World Factbook -- Taiwan
Online Taiwan Newspapers
Taiwan newspapers
Inside China Today
China Today

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