DATE=2/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-TAIWAN (L)
NUMBER=2-259423
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China has reiterated its warning to Taiwan
that, if it continues to drag its feet on negotiating
its reunification with the mainland, Beijing might be
compelled to use force. VOA correspondent Roger
Wilkison reports China's Foreign Ministry says that,
following the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese
sovereignty, resolving the Taiwan issue has become
urgent.
TEXT: At a regular news briefing Tuesday, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao stepped up the
pressure on Taiwan to begin talks on reunification.
Mr. Zhu -- speaking through an interpreter -- restated
the main point contained in a government white paper
on the Taiwan question that was issued Monday.
/////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////
Should there be the indefinite refusal by authorities
of Taiwan of peaceful negotiations to solve the
reunification issue, the Chinese government has no
choice but to take all measures, including the use of
force to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial
integrity and to realize its national reunification.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
China has always said it would attack Taiwan if the
island were to declare formal independence or if it
were to be invaded by foreign forces. But Monday's
policy paper added Taiwanese foot-dragging over
reunification to the list of provocative circumstances
that would compel it to use force against the island.
With only weeks to go before Taiwanese vote in
presidential elections, the white paper's release is
seen by diplomats and other analysts as an attempt to
put pressure on candidates and voters. Mr. Zhu says
the document was intended to get Taiwan to agree to
the so-called "one country-two systems" formula China
used to regain Hong Kong and Macau whereby Beijing
grants those territories considerable autonomy.
/////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////
It is natural that we have this urgency of solving
this question of Taiwan. And the question of Taiwan
cannot be dragged out indefinitely.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
There has been no indication that Beijing has decided
on a timetable for reunification with the island that
has enjoyed de facto independence since the
Nationalists took refuge there 51 years ago after
losing a civil war to the Communists. Beijing was
infuriated last year when Taiwanese President Lee
Teng-hui suggested that the two sides should deal with
each other on a state-to-state basis. Beijing
considers Taiwan a wayward province and demands that
the island acknowledge that it is part of China.
/////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////
To insist on the one-China principle is the basis and
the prerequisite for peaceful reunification and also
the basis for the sound development of cross-strait
relations and also contacts and dialogue across the
Taiwan Strait.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Opinion polls in Taiwan have shown that most of the
island's people favor a continuation of the status
quo, with much less support for independence or
reunification. A European diplomat in Beijing says
China's latest warning is a direct challenge to the
status quo mainstream. (signed)
NEB/RW/FC
NEB/RW
22-Feb-2000 06:10 AM EDT (22-Feb-2000 1110 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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