China can learn from KMT's defeat

[dArKeR]

Saturday, May 29, 2004,Page 8

President Chen Shui-bian (???) showed a positive approach to cross-strait relations in his May 20 inaugural speech, but China has not only rejected his goodwill, it has also sought to suppress democracy by various means in the name of acting against pro-independence movements, leading to a decline in democracy in China and Hong Kong and weakening democratic movements abroad.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office, in its battle against independence and democracy, claimed in a statement on May 17 that "if Taiwan's leaders should move to provoke major incidents of `Taiwanese independence,' the Chinese people will crush their schemes firmly and thoroughly at any cost."

In response to Chen's speech, Taiwan Affairs Office Spokesman Zhang Mingqing (???) said on May 24 that " is at the edge of the cliff right now." Although Chen's speech successfully deprived China of any excuse to attack Taiwan, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (???) recently revealed that China is going to create a "unification law" (???), which will serve as the legal basis for using military force against separatist movements. But unification is not something that can be achieved by wishful thinking on China's part. Calling it an "anti-separatist law" (????) would probably tally better with reality.

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