ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE ON CHINA IS SUICIDAL: PRESIDENT REP
ROC Central News Agency
2006-01-09 21:46:03
Taipei, Jan. 9 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Monday that economic overdependence on China would be suicidal.
The president made the remarks when he received winners of a national award for outstanding retail stores.
Speaking on his advocacy of "active management and effective liberalization" of cross-strait trade and economic relations in his New Year Day's address, which is to replace the "active opening and effective management" policy introduced in 2001, the president said that the purpose of the policy change was not to tighten cross-strait trade, but to mitigate the damage caused by more open trade relations.
The president reaffirmed that he was not advising keeping out of China, saying that as long as "the root, the research and development, and the headquarters" remain in Taiwan, the whole world, including mainland China, will be the best market for Taiwan to make money.
He noted that the stock market in Taiwan plummeted Jan. 2 after his New Year Day's address, but rebounded strongly three or four days later. "It is normal to see fluctuation in the stock market, but the public has politicized the issue, " the president said, adding that "the government should tell the truth to its people, and lead the people in the right direction."
He said the ratio of receiving orders in Taiwan but filling them overseas is now as much as 40 percent, and among such products, 90 percent are produced in China, which he called "very risky."
This is because China is belligerent toward Taiwan and has never renounced the possibility of taking Taiwan by force, Chen said. China also passed the Anti-Secession Law in March 2005, providing it with justification under China's domestic law to invade Taiwan should the island move toward formal independence, the president said.
He said that China deployed 496 missiles along its coastal provinces in 2003, and the number of missiles had increased to 706 in 2004 and 784 in 2005. The number of missiles has continued to increase at between 100 and 120 a year, he said.
As a national leader, Chen said that he was not engaging in an arms race, noting that China has 80 advanced submarines, while Taiwan has only two.
Given China's threat, Taiwan must be vigilant, the president said. Taiwan is not trying to provoke war, but deter the enemy from starting one or being capable of making it pay a heavy price if it does, he said. "The point of combat readiness is not to fight, but to deter a war and a bargaining chip to negotiate with the other side of the Taiwan Strait," he said.
(By Lilian Wu)
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