Although he did not use the term of "one country on each side",
Chen Shui-bian's May 20 speech brimmed with the concept of "Taiwan
Independence" and foreshadowing of his attempt to split China, said
Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the
State Council, at a news conference in Beijing Monday.
Zhang said that although Chen did not mention the time frame for
writing a new "constitution" in 2006 and the referendum leading to
"Taiwan Independence", he used ambiguous words, like "his personal
proposal" and "the common understanding of the vast majority that
will be reached", to describe his stances on whether the
sovereignty, territory and "Reunification or Independence" issue
would be included in the proposed "constitutional reform".
"Chen's expression carried the foreshadowing of his attempt to
split China," Zhang acknowledged, "which will undermine the
stability of the Taiwan Straits and the Asia-Pacific region."
Chen's speech, said Zhang, revealed that he still persisted in
his stance of seeking "Taiwan Independence" and he had no sincerity
to improve the cross-Straits relations.
The statement issued by the Taiwan Work Office under the
Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan
Affairs Office of the State Council on May 17, noted Zhang, has
explicitly demonstrated the Chinese Mainland's sincerity toward
peaceful reunification, voiced the common aspiration and firm
resolve of the 1.3 billion Chinese people to safeguard national
sovereignty and territorial integrity and offered a package of
proposals for improved cross-Straits relations under the one-China
principle.
The statement, as the Chinese Mainland's important document on
the Taiwan question, has drawn a lot of positive response from the
Taiwanese community and the international community, Zhang
said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2004)