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Beijing readies for Taiwan shift


In this story:

Speeding up reunification

Putting pressure on Chen




BEIING, China -- Beijing is poised to make a strategic shift of its Taiwan policy in the face of Washington's arms sales to Taipei and former president Lee Teng-hui's visit to Japan and the United States.

A source close to Beijing's Taiwan policy establishment said the Chinese leadership would likely boost united front tactics with the Taiwan opposition.

The means improving ties with the enemies of the allegedly pro-independence camp of Lee and current president Chen Shui-bian -- the Kuomintang (KMT), the People's First Party (PFP) and pro-unification businessmen.

"Beijing's new thinking is it may not have effective means in the short run to stop the U.S. from selling arms to Taiwan or to prevent Lee or Chen from going to the U.S. or Japan," the source said.

"However, if Beijing can consolidate ties with opposition parties and businessmen, much of the gains of Chen and Lee would be negated."

Speeding up reunification

Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership was confident a candidate from the KMT -- or perhaps one on a combined KMT-PFP ticket -- could defeat Chen or other Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidates at the presidential elections in 2004.

A diplomatic source said during recent meetings between CCP and KMT leaders, the former urged a "historic, third-time KMT-CCP cooperation" to expedite reunification.

Before the Communists swept to victory in 1949 and the KMT fled to Taiwan, the two parties had joined forces two times for purposes including driving out the Japanese invaders in the 1930s.

The source added that during talks with KMT visitors since last winter, Beijing leaders had offered unspecific political and even economic help to their guests to ensure the KMT could beat the DPP in Taiwan elections.

Putting pressure on Chen

It is understood a prime goal of Beijing's Taiwan policymakers this year is to persuade the heads of the KMT and the PFP, respectively Lien Chan and James Soong Chu-yu, to visit the Chinese capital.

Chinese leaders are also confident they can persuade the growing numbers of Taiwan executives doing business on the mainland to put pressure on the Chen administration to hasten talks with Beijing.

Meanwhile, even though President George W. Bush has decided not to sell Aegis-equipped destroyers to Taiwan, Beijing authorities have attacked the sale of other weapons to the island as "gross intervention in the internal affairs of China."

Speaking in Washington on Tuesday, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. Yang Jiechi also expressed "strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition" to Lee's forthcoming visit to his alma mater, Cornell University in New York.

In internal leadership discussions after the spy plane incident with the U.S., Politburo members and their advisers have focused on Bush's alleged new anti-China containment policy.

The arms sales to Taiwan, in addition to Lee's visits to Japan and the U.S., have been cited as examples of joint efforts by Washington and Tokyo to use the Taiwan card to "isolate and contain China."



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