Hualien, eastern Taiwan, March 10 (CNA) Taiwan will run the risk of war if cross-strait relations are not handled properly, Premier Vincent Siew said on Friday.
Siew said that by announcing its Taiwan policy white paper, which threatens to take drastic action, including the use of force, against Taiwan if the island continues to indefinitely delay unification talks, Beijing is showing a patent sense of great urgency and pressure to resolve the Taiwan problem.
Siew, running mate of Vice President Lien Chan in the March 18 presidential election, said Taiwan is now facing dual crises at home and abroad. The crisis at home lies in an unstable political situation, he said, while the crisis abroad is the persistent threats from mainland China.
In a campaign speech in Hualien, the Kuomintang vice presidential candidate called for the Taiwan public to choose the right candidate ticket to "prevent the government from collapsing and Taiwan politics from being disabled."
Meanwhile, Lin Chong-pin, vice chairman of the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), called for the Taiwan public to pay serious attention to the possibility of a military cross-strait conflict in the wake of Beijing's white paper.
Lin said that although mainland China is not capable at present of launching a full-scale invasion of Taiwan, he urged the Taiwan people to take Beijing's military threats seriously.
On a report from Hong Kong saying that Beijing is looking forward to beginning formal negotiations with Taiwan on unification in three years, Lin said that while Taiwan does not have a three-year time frame to begin negotiations, Taipei is ready to return to the negotiating table anytime and anywhere.
"Our hands have reached out, but Beijing is tightening its fists," Lin said. (By Deborah Kuo)
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