• Military

• WMD Menu                           

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

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

TAIWAN REFRAINS FROM HEAD-ON CONFRONTATION WITH CHINA: MAC

Central News Agency

2005-07-04 18:39:09

    Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Taiwan has consistently refrained from head-on confrontation with China and has instead handled China's military threat and diplomatic embargo with prudence, the nation's top mainland policy planner claimed Monday.

    Speaking in a radio interview, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu said the government has felt the pinch of China's threat from its military deployments and from its diplomatic embargo against Taiwan.

    Nevertheless, Wu said, the government has abstained from adopting a "100 percent military confrontational policy" to cope with China's threat because doing so would only further strain relations across the Taiwan Strait.

    In the interview, Wu was asked about his views on a media report claiming that a soon-to-be-released national security report will highlight a theory about potential perils from China's rise as an economic power to counter China's claim that its rise will be peaceful.

    Wu said he is not in a position to comment on the report. He instead said China's fast military buildup, including a sharp increase in its defense budget and the deployment of submarines and hundreds of missiles against Taiwan, has made the people of Taiwan even more aware of China's looming threat.

    Worse still, Wu went on, China has never eased its diplomatic suppression of Taiwan, continuing to block Taiwan's international presence.

    Despite this frustrating situation, Wu said, the government, while striving to enhance the nation's defense capabilities, has refrained from adopting a confrontational policy, out of a desire to maintain cross-strait peace and stability.

    Moreover, Wu continued, the government has spared no effort to cultivate a peaceful and amiable atmosphere for cross-strait detente.

    He also renewed his call on China to renounce its attempts to use force against Taiwan, to forsake its diplomatic blockade and to resume dialogue with Taiwan without setting any political preconditions or prerequisites.

(By Sofia Wu)

ENDITEM/J