DATE=5/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-TESTING TAIWAN (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262629
BYLINE=LETA HONG FINCHER
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China is testing the new Taiwanese
president by keeping up its media blitz against
any prospect of Taiwanese independence, while
offering to resume talks under certain
conditions. V-O-A's Leta Hong Fincher has this
report from Beijing on the latest wrangling
across the Taiwan Strait.
TEXT: In the two days since new Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian gave his inauguration
speech, China's official media have been mixing
their traditional hard line warnings to Taiwan
with a new sign of flexibility on how to resume
ties with the democratic island.
///CCTV ACT 1 IN CHINESE. EST, THEN
FADE///
State-run Chinese television news led its midday
broadcast Monday with discussions on how to
promote Taiwan reunification with the mainland.
But the report repeats the demand that Mr. Chen
accept the "one-China" principle, which states
there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of
China.
The broadcast features officials from China's
State Council discussing Mr. Chen's inaugural
speech. The officials accuse him of only
pretending to want better ties with the mainland,
when in fact, they say, he's carrying out the
same pro-independence policy as his predecessor,
Lee Teng-hui.
///CCTV ACT 2 IN CHINESE, EST., THEN
FADE///
But the same broadcast urges the Taiwanese
president to prove that he is sincere by
establishing the so-called "three links" across
the Taiwan Strait. The "three links" refer to
direct trade, transport and postal service - all
severed by a 50-year ban placed by Taiwan on
links between the island and mainland China. The
Kuomintang Party imposed the ban to protect its
national security, after losing the civil war to
the communists on mainland China and fleeing to
Taiwan in 1949.
Chen Shui-bian did not mention the subject in his
inaugural speech Saturday. But he said
separately on Sunday that he would consider
ending the ban on cross-strait links, which he
called "outdated, rigid and inflexible."
Many analysts see reversing the ban on direct
links across the strait as one way for Taiwan to
resume talks with China without explicitly
endorsing the "one-China" principle. Chinese
leaders could then point to a lifting of
the ban and say they succeeded in drawing Taiwan
closer to the mainland. (signed)
NEB/HK/LHF/JO
22-May-2000 05:27 AM EDT (22-May-2000 0927 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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