• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Three leading candidates stress sovereignty of island

Taiwan's presidential candidates promised to hold cross-strait peace talks if elected, but said they will not be forced into negotiations by Beijing's strong-arm tactics. James Soong, Chen Shui-bian and Lien Chan all stressed the sovereignty of the nationalist island and said Beijing's intimidation would only provoke disdain among Taiwan's population.

"We can open peaceful political talks with communist mainland China and sign a peace treaty to lower mutual hostility on the basis of dignity, national security and human rights," Soong, an independent presidential candidate said yesterday.

"People here do not fear to negotiate, but we absolutely will not hold talks out of fear," Soong said after opening his campaign office in Quemoy, an islet manned by nationalist troops 2.3 kilometers off mainland China's southeastern coast.

Soong said he wanted to improve the infrastructure on Quemoy and adjacent Matsu islet and boost the islets' economic activities by opening "mini" cross-strait links with the mainland -- allowing a direct and free flow of commerce, post and transportation. Taiwan has banned direct links with mainland China, but permitted indirect links through third parties, mainly Hong Kong.

Chen, presidential hopeful of the Democratic Progressive Party, condemned Beijing's renewed threat yesterday but promised to handle cross-strait ties "with pragmatism and flexibility" if elected.

"We strongly express our objections to any military threat or other move jeopardizing cross-strait stability," he said. Chen pledged to safeguard Taiwan's sovereignty and dignity and said he "will not make any compromise under Beijing's military harassment or political pressure which will only invite disdain from the people here."

However, he stressed his commitment in pushing for bilateral peace talks between Beijing and Taipei if elected head-of-state in the March 18 election. "But we definitely will not sit down at the negotiation table under pressure," he said.

Lien, the Koumintang nominee and Vice President, said Wednesday that any attempt to oppress Taiwan, its right to self-respect and its development in the international arena, would meet with the firm opposition of all 22 million people on the island. The existence of the Republic of China is an undeniable fact, he added.

Lien supports his mentor President Lee Teng-hui's claim that the two sides should have a "special state-to-state relationship," a position that enrages mainland China.

The KMT has refused talks under the "one country" policy, which it says downgrades Taiwan to a province. But Lien has also offered to improve bilateral ties by opening direct trade, post and transportation links.

Meanwhile, independent presidential candidate Hsu Hsin-liang pointed out that mainland China 's White Paper urges the U.S. to recognize the principles that "One China policy" and "cross-strait political talks" must precede "peaceful resolution" of the Taiwan issue.

New Party presidential candidate Li Ao, after attending a briefing with the National Security Bureau yesterday, reiterated his stance on the cross-strait issue, saying that acceptance of his "one country, two systems" proposal is the only feasible way to resolve cross-strait tensions.

Soong, the former Taiwan governor who broke from the ruling Kuomintang to join the presidential race as an independent, leads five candidates with ratings of 26 percent according to a poll by the TVBS television station on Tuesday. Chen trailed at 25 percent and KMT nominee Vice President Lien Chan at 21 percent.

Beijing's latest threat was contained in a White Paper released Monday where it said for the first time that Taipei's repeated rejection of its overtures for reunification talks under the "One China" policy could lead to war. It also insisted the "one country, two systems" formula -- which has been applied to Hong Kong and Macau since they reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and 1999 respectively -- was the only choice for Taipei.