Gov't calls for calm following tough warning from Beijing

In a statement released midnight on Sunday, China vowed to stop moves towards Taiwan independence “at any cost” just days before President Chen is sworn in for a new four year term — but also offered Taiwan rewards if it accepted it was part of China.

Presidential spokesman James Huang gave a low-key response.

“We call on the nation’s people and the media to maintain a normal attitude, keep calm and not dance to China’s tune,” he said.

In Beijing’s fiercely-worded statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency, Taiwan’s leaders must choose between recognizing the island as part of the mainland or “following their separatist agenda to cut Taiwan from the rest of China and, in the end, meet their own destruction by playing with fire.”

Huang said the President and his aides had considered the statement and would draw up response measures but the Presidential Office would give no formal comment before President Chen Shui-bian's inaugural speech.

Meanwhile, in China, the state-run China Daily, on its Web site, put it in even plainer terms: “Taiwan’s leaders at crossroads — peace or war.”

While the rhetoric was fiery, the statement also spelled out incentives such as direct trade, transport links and increased access to mainland markets if Chen fell in line and acknowledged that Taiwan was part of ‘one China’.

Taiwan’s international status could also addressed as a reward for good behavior, said the statement, released by the Communist Party’s Office for Taiwan Affairs and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, coinciding with Taiwan’s eighth attempt to enter the World Health Organization

The ruling DPP and other government officials yesterday gave a similar low-key reaction.

Foreign Minister Chen Tan-sun dismissed China’s demand that the island accept its cherished “One China principle”, saying at the best could be a topic for discussion — not a formal policy or principle.

“Taiwan is a nation that loves peace. The international community should respect Taiwan as a sovereign independent nation,” he was quoted by the semi-official Central News Agency as saying.

Foreign Minister Chen said he thought China was concerned with the rising popularity of President Chen, who won the presidential election on a razor-thin margin, but added the superpower had not said anything new. He said it seemed as if China was taking advantage of the local and international interest in Thursday’s Presidential inauguration ceremony.

DPP whip Tsai Huang-liang told local media it appeared China had the attitude of an imperial hegemony and the superpower had deeply hurt the feelings of the nation’s people. However, the statement would not influence President Chen’s inaugural speech, he said.

The government’s official organization for making China-policy, the Mainland Affairs Council, yesterday gave no formal response.

A leading military analyst, Andrew Yang, secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, said the statement, was the strongest and highest-level warning against Taiwan independence so far.

Yang said if Taiwan did not accept the offer to become part of China, Beijing would begin preparations for the “worst-case scenario”.

“It means take it or leave it,” said Yang. “This is the final offer.”

Yang said that the ruling DPP had no consensus or position on China, with DPP fundamentalists pushing for outright independence and moderates wanting to reconcile with the island’s neighboring superpower.

Yang said the final decision would be up to President Chen, the nation’s leader.

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