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CHINA IS REAL CROSS-STRAIT TROUBLEMAKER: MAC

ROC Central News Agency

2006-02-08 17:21:09

    Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu accused China Wednesday of being the "real troublemaker" that is attempting to change the cross-Taiwan Strait status quo unilaterally through its ever-increasing military deployment against Taiwan.

    Wu said Taiwan will make every effort to maintain the cross-strait status quo as long as China has no intention of using force against Taiwan.

    Earlier that day, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Li Weiyi said that President Chen Shui-bian's Lunar New Year's Day speech violated his "five noes" promise and challenged Beijing's "one China" principle. He also accused Chen of seeking de jure independence for Taiwan by promoting constitutional re-engineering and called Chen a "troublemaker" who is sabotaging cross-strait relations and peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Li was referring to Chen's proposals that Taiwan should seriously consider scrapping the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines and seek to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan, as well as drafting a new constitution by the end of this year to be put to a referendum in 2007.

    In response to the criticism, Wu pointed out that despite Taiwan's efforts to maintain the cross-strait status quo over the past six years, Beijing has been expanding its military deployment against Taiwan and relentlessly isolating Taiwan in the international community.

    The situation worsened last year when China enacted its Anti-Secession Law targeting Taiwan, which shows that China is the one that poses the greatest threat to regional peace and stability, Wu said.

    He continued that in addition to Taiwan, Japan and the United States have also felt the military threat of China and its potentially damaging effect on regional stability, with the Pentagon recently identifying China as a potential military competitor of the United States in light of China's increasing military buildup.

    He accused Beijing of paying lip service by repeatedly offering to promote cross-strait exchanges and protect cross-strait peace, noting that Beijing has rejected negotiations with Taipei on issues regarding the launch of cross-strait chartered cargo flights and allowing more Chinese tourists to enter Taiwan.

(By Y.F. Low)

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