POLITICS: China Spurns Taiwan President"s Peace Overture, page 1

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Topic started on 13-10-2004 @ 01:50 AM by FredT

Dismissing recent peace overtures by the president of Taiwan, a spokesman for the Chinese government stated "When Chen Shui-bian says he wants to ease tensions, it is false. When he says he wants independence, it is true,". The call for peace talks came in a National Day speech by Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian.

story.news.yahoo.com
BEIJING (Reuters) - China spurned Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian"s peace overtures Wednesday, accusing him of merely paying lip service to easing tensions between the two arch foes.

Chen called for peace talks with China in his National Day speech Sunday, but asserted that the island was a sovereign nation and not a mere province of China.

"When Chen Shui-bian says he wants to ease tensions, it is false. When he says he wants independence, it is true," Zhang Mingqing, a spokesman for Beijing"s policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office, told a news conference.

Communist China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has threatened to attack the democratic island of 23 million if it formally declares statehood.

Beijing is convinced Chen will push the envelope on independence in his current second and final four-year term.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

Chen who was recently reelected has been pushing for constitutional changes in an effort to make Taiwan a complete, independent country. A spokesman further indicated that a declaration of independence was the "biggest threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region ... and would only bring great disaster." Absent though was the frequent threat to use force if a declaration of independence is put forth by the island nation.

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reply posted on 13-10-2004 @ 11:04 AM by TCR

I'm definately interested in news snippets like this. Appreciate the posting. I wonder how much longer this "stalemate" will continue. I imagine indefinately is the answer many would give.

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 01:07 AM by Muaddib

Following up on this story I found the following.

The Chinese government has rejected a call by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for peace talks and warned against moves towards formal independence.

"If Chen Shui-bian remains bent on sticking to his splittist and Taiwan independence activities, he will never bring peace and prosperity to the Taiwan compatriots, but will only bring great catastrophe," said China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhang Mingqing on Wednesday.

"Taiwan independence is the biggest danger to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Asian region."

Excerpted from.
news.bbc.co.uk...

Since when the independance of a country that should be independent and was independent for a long time, and in which the majotrity of the people do want independence from China, means that it is a danger across the Asian region?...

I just wonder when China is going to attack Taiwan...i just wish the Chinese would wake up and see that the Taiwanese people don't want to be a part of China Taiwan was never really part of China anyways....

BTW, i do hope that this will never happen, but then again I am more of a realistic person and as China has said many times they will attack Taiwan....*shakes head*

[edit on 14-10-2004 by Muaddib]

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 02:07 AM by AceOfBase

It seems like Americans are more in favor of Taiwanese independence than the Taiwanese themselves are.

CPOD
Polling Data

In the event of a referendum on independence, how would you vote?

For independence 40%

For reunification with China 25%

Boycott / Cast invalid ballot 15%

No opinion 21%

Jamestown (2001)
Taiwanese politics are ethnic. And the core issue is Taiwan's relationship with China. The latest poll (July 7) shows that less than a fifth of Taiwan's people are interested even in eventual, down-the-road reunification with China, and that another fifth demand full independence. The rest want to "maintain permanently the status quo" of de facto separation from China--or at least put off the decision "until later"... much, much, much, much later. These numbers have been roughly consistent, with ups and downs, for the past decade.

Asiaweek (1997?)
Even if the DPP won the right to rule, it would be hard put to gauge public opinion on an issue as emotive and complex as independence. The party's regular telephone polls indicate that Taiwan people have contradictory views. In one recent survey, 36% of respondents said they were undecided on independence, 30% preferred eventual reunification, and only 17% opted for outright independence. In another poll, 35% called themselves "Taiwanese," 43% said they were "Chinese" and 17% felt they were both.

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 02:45 AM by Muaddib

Originally posted by AceOfBase
It seems like Americans are more in favor of Taiwanese independence than the Taiwanese themselves are.

You like to assume a lot don't you Ace?

Don't you think it is also possible that quite a few Taiwanese fear what China would do to them, like they did in Tiananmen Square to their own people?

And btw, according to the following, a Taiwanese link and news-source, there are more people who don't want to be part of the "one country two systems" formula.

" In Taiwan today, fewer and fewer people see themselves as Chinese. According to an annual poll taken by Taipei's Chengchi University, the proportion of Taiwan's residents who consider themselves exclusively Chinese has plummeted to 10% from 26% in 1992, while the number who think of themselves as exclusively "Taiwanese" has jumped to 42% from 17%. Meanwhile, a November poll by the island's Mainland Affairs Council reveals a similarly negative response to China's only model for reunification: the Hong Kong formula of "one country, two systems." Just 7% of respondents found that formulation acceptable, while 71% considered it unsuitable for Taiwan. "

Excerpted from.
www.time.com...

Oh and BTW, the link i gave is from 2004.

[edit on 14-10-2004 by Muaddib]

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 05:19 AM by FredT

Muaddib brings up a good point. How reliable are these polls? If I put a gun to your head and ask your opinion on an issue, are you going to make a principled stand, or tell me what I want to hear? This is or may be what is going on in taiwan today. Chinas threats of total destruction / invasion are aimed at doing this.

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 12:03 PM by AceOfBase

Originally posted by FredT
Muaddib brings up a good point. How reliable are these polls? If I put a gun to your head and ask your opinion on an issue, are you going to make a principled stand, or tell me what I want to hear? This is or may be what is going on in taiwan today. Chinas threats of total destruction / invasion are aimed at doing this.

Well, since at least one of the polls I posted was from the pro-independence Taiwanese DPP party, I think we can give it some credibility.

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 07:39 PM by Muaddib

Originally posted by AceOfBase

Well, since at least one of the polls I posted was from the pro-independence Taiwanese DPP party, I think we can give it some credibility.

The polls you gave are from 1997 and 1999, the new poll I gave is from 2004, and you have to take into account that it seems slowly the Taiwanese people are less afraid of China, but still there are probably a lot of people that fear what the Chinese would do if they attain independance.

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 07:55 PM by AceOfBase

The CPOD poll I posted was from August 2004 and showed only 40% would vote for independence.

Some of that may be fear of repercussions but the poll you posted showed that only 42% of people consider themselves exclusively Taiwanese so it may not be just about fear.

[edit on 14-10-2004 by AceOfBase]

reply posted on 14-10-2004 @ 10:42 PM by Muaddib

10% consider themselves totally Chinese and 42% consider themselves totally Taiwanese, guess some of the others consider themselves somewhere in the middle, and not only that but the natives of Taiwan are not of Chinese descent, the first settlers in Taiwan were of Malay-Polynesian descent and they called Taiwan "Pakan," even thou most of them live in the mountains now and not in cities.

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