Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian vowed Wednesday to proceed with a referendum on
relations with the Chinese mainland next March despite pressure to shelve the
vote from the White House, which issued an unprecedented rebuke of Chen, the
Washington Post reported.
Chen, in a meeting with US Representative Republican Dan Burton, said Taiwan
was committed to moving ahead with the referendum on March 20, 2004, the day
Taiwanese will vote in a "presidential" election, according to James Huang,
Chen's spokesman.
The referendum would demand that Beijing withdraw all missiles aimed at
Taiwan and renounce the use of force against the island. Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao told US President George W. Bush in the White House on Tuesday that China
will stick to peaceful means to seek reunification as long as "there is a
glimmer of hope.'' Wen is on an official visit to the United States.
Beijing has long been warning that a war will certainly break out if Chen
Shui-bian dares to announce independence. Since Chen Shui-bian planned to
conduct the referendum in October, tens of thousands of Chinese readers have
bombarded him in the popular website chatrooms, including sina.com and sohu.com,
supporting Beijing's hardline policy.
Wen told Bush that Chen's attempt to resort to referenda of various kinds as
an excuse to pursue Taiwan independence, which China and Chinese people cannot
tolerate.
President Bush said that he opposed the referendum plan and that it appeared
Chen wanted to change the nature of the relationship between Taiwan and the
Chinese mainland.
The US Government "opposes any unilateral decision'' by either sides of
Taiwan Straits "to change the status quo, and the comments and actions made by
the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions
unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose,'' said Bush.
Chen's remarks to go on with the referendum place Taiwan squarely in conflict
with the United States and could spark a crisis that would hurt Taiwan's
relations with its most powerful backer, the Washington Post said.
The rebuke from Bush also puts Chen in a difficult position and could hurt
his chances for reelection, the newspaper said. Chen is running a tight race
against Lien Chan, the Nationalist Party candidate, whom he beat in 2000.
Michael Swaine, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in
Washington, said White House criticism of Chen amounted to the most serious
diplomatic crisis for Taiwan since 1979, when the United States broke ties with
Taipei and established formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Relations between Taiwan and the mainland have deteriorated following moves
by Chen that analysts said were designed to boost his prospects at the polls by
antagonizing Beijing.
Su Chi, a top Nationalist Party adviser to Lien, said he was not surprised
Chen planned to push ahead with the referendum despite US opposition. Su said
Chen Shui-bian was motivated by desperation because he was slipping in the
polls.
"We think this is a dangerous strategy because it invites intervention" from
the United States and from Beijing, he said. "We want
neither."
