DATE=6/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TAIWAN / VICE PRESIDENT
NUMBER=2-263474
BYLINE=GRACE CUTLER
DATELINE=HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A group of opposition lawmakers in Taiwan say
the country's new vice president is a security risk
and they are calling for her dismissal. As Grace
Cutler reports from Hong Kong, Annette Lu has been
criticized in both Taiwan and China for stirring up
nationalist sentiment in Taiwan.
TEXT: Annette Lu has been in office for less than one
month but already opposition lawmakers are calling for
her dismissal. She is often in the spotlight for her
of staunch support for Taiwan's independence from
China. This has angered Beijing, which considers
Taiwan a breakaway province and wants the island to
reunite with the mainland.
Ms. Lu's opponents say the outspoken vice president is
putting Taiwan at risk and is undermining President
Chen Shui-bian's attempts to mend fences with China.
Last week, Ms. Lu once again came under fire when she
said the president chose her as vice president to play
the "bad cop" (to be used as leverage) against China.
The presidential office later issued a denial.
President Chen, in the past, has supported Taiwan's
independence from China, but has since softened his
position and appealed for reconciliation with Beijing.
On the other side of the Taiwan Strait, Chinese state
controlled media have called Ms. Lu the "scum of the
Chinese nation" and an "incurable separatist."
Ms. Lu now faces a motion by Nationalist party
legislators to force her from office.
Although the motion has enough signatures to be
introduced as legislation, it is unlikely to get the
two-thirds vote needed to pass. And if it did pass,
the vice president's recall from office would have to
be approved by a majority vote in a public ballot.
Members of Ms. Lu's Democratic Progressive Party say
the motion was raised to serve more as a warning to
Ms. Lu to tone down her independent rhetoric. Others
in the party suggest the move was an act of revenge by
the Nationalist party, which lost its 51-year grip on
power in March elections. (signed)
NEB/HK/GC/JO/KBK
14-Jun-2000 09:01 AM LOC (14-Jun-2000 1301 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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