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ROC PROTESTS AGAINST CHINA-FRANCE JOINT NAVAL EXERCISE

2004-03-16 22:42:49

    Taipei, March 16 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) lodged a strong protest to France and mainland China Tuesday for their ongoing large-scale joint naval exercise that coincides with Taiwan's presidential race.

    Describing the exercise as "military intimidation toward Taiwan," the MOFA claimed it is also aimed at influencing the results of Taiwan's March 20 presidential election and its first-ever nationwide referendum to be held simultaneously.

    French President Jacques Chirac, keen to strengthen ties with Beijing and win a firm footing for French business in the rapidly growing mainland market, sided with Beijing in January in opposing Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on missile defense alongside the election, according to a MOFA news release.

    Chirac also came up with a proposal that the European Union lift its arms embargo against the mainland with a view to facilitating France's acquisition of lucrative business contracts from Beijing, the MOFA said. At a sensitive moment -- with Taiwan on the point of holding its presidential election -- the French president decided to conduct a large-scale naval exercise with Beijing, the ministry added.

    Stressing that the government cannot accept the French moves, the Foreign Ministry said it has expressed great discontent to Director Elisabeth Laurin of the French Institute in Taiwan, France's de facto embassy in Taipei, and has asked the French side to offer a reasonable explanation.

    Chirac twice said publicly on two different occasions when meeting with visiting mainland Chinese President Hu Jintao in January that France opposes Taiwan independence and that the island will be committing a "grave mistake" that could destabilize the region by holding a referendum.

    The mainland considers the referendum a plot to promote Taiwan independence. It menaced Taiwan with missile tests and war games in the run-up to the island's first direct presidential elections in 1996 to try to dissuade voters from re-electing then-President Lee Teng-hui, but the move backfired, with Lee winning by a landslide.

(By Luis Huang)

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