PM Wen issues warning to Taiwan
Island cannot decide its political future unilaterally, he says at opening of parliament
BEIJING - CHINESE Premier Wen Jiabao told Taiwan yesterday it cannot unilaterally decide its political future as the island prepares to hold a contentious referendum on whether to seek UN membership.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own, is to hold the referendum alongside presidential polls on March 22, ignoring warnings from China and the United States. Washington is concerned about instability across the Taiwan Strait.
The referendum has riled Beijing because it calls for the island to join the United Nations under the name 'Taiwan' instead of its official title 'Republic of China'. The latter connotes fealty to Beijing's 'one China' principle.
'Any issue that concerns China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be decided by all the Chinese people, including our Taiwan compatriots,' Premier Wen told the opening of the annual session of parliament yesterday.
He said Taiwan's pro-independence activities were 'doomed to fail' - a remark echoing President Hu Jintao's warning just a day ago.
On Tuesday, Mr Hu told China's top political advisory body that 'Taiwan independence' activities 'will get nowhere and are doomed to fail'.
But like Mr Hu, Mr Wen also extended Taiwan an olive branch, renewing an offer to enter into negotiations. 'We will work for the early resumption of cross-strait negotiations on the basis of the 'one China' principle,' Mr Wen said.
However, the 'one China' principle, which says Taiwan and the mainland are part of a single sovereign country, has long been rejected by Taiwan as an unfair precondition.
An official with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party dismissed Mr Wen's remarks.
'Mr Wen's comments are not different from years past, but they've hardened their position, especially when they say Taiwan can't decide its future for itself,' said Mr Lai I-chung, the party's deputy international affairs director.
Yesterday, Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said he is agreeable to separating the referendum from the presidential poll, but on condition that the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) agrees to amend the referendum Act to lower the high threshold required to make it legally binding.
A referendum is only successful if more than half of Taiwan's 16.8 million eligible voters cast ballots, and more than 50 per cent of the votes support the initiative. And the KMT is unlikely to agree to a change.
REUTERS
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