March 8, 2005, No. 034
The Chinese authorities’ deliberation of the “Anti-Separation Law” fully expose military aggression as the essence of their strategy
In response to China’s legislation of the “Anti-Separation Law”, the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan issues the following official statement:
Through the legislation of this law, the Chinese authorities intend to deny the Republic of China its sovereignty and unilaterally change the status quo. This situation has already created tension in the region and justifies the concern of both the international community and the Taiwanese Government over China’s motives. This law exposes China’s intent to use military force to annex Taiwan and dominate the region. It has essentially written a blank check for its military to resort to military force against Taiwan. The Taiwanese Government strongly protests this disruption of peace and stability in East Asia and the Taiwan Strait, which ignore the will of the Taiwanese people and encroaches on the Taiwanese people’s freedom of choice through ill intentions and violent measures.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) firmly states that the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the Republic of China is a sovereign nation and both sides of the Taiwan Strait have no jurisdiction over one another. The Taiwanese people cannot accept China’s “one country, two systems” arrangement. Any changes to the status quo must obtain the consensus of the twenty-three million Taiwanese people and the Chinese authorities must accept this fact. The Chinese authorities deliberately attempt to unrealistically dwarf Taiwan by legislating the “one China policy” and “one country, two systems,” and persist on adopting non-peaceful measures to solve cross-strait conflicts. The MAC stresses that the first direct presidential election in Taiwan in 1996 was an important process in deepening democratization in Taiwan. The international community should remember what China then did: military intimidation by launching missiles in the Taiwan Strait and igniting anxiety on all fronts. The Chinese authorities are now adopting a legal authorization by which they may resort to violence against Taiwan. This will inevitably endanger peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and the East Asian region.
The Republic of China has embraced freedom and democracy and has always received a high-level of recognition from the international community. The Taiwanese government believes that “the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom and democracy throughout the world.” This is a value shared with the United States of America, Japan, European Union and many other countries. This is the biggest difference between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China. The MAC stresses that the collective will of the Taiwanese people is expressed through democratic processes. But the Chinese authorities intend to suppress the Taiwanese people with “non-peaceful” and “non-democratic” measures. This shows a clear lack of knowledge of democracy by the Chinese authorities; it is also the worst ill-intended trampling of international human rights and democracy.
In the past, Taiwanese public opinion has explicitly and repeatedly expressed the hope of maintaining cross-Strait peace and stability, and persistence in maintaining a self-governing democratic system. The MAC points out that at the moment, the international community is very concerned about China’s formulation of the “Anti-Separation Law.” The Chinese authorities have not considered the Taiwanese people's common aspirations and even disregard the worries of the international community. The Chinese authorities constantly proclaim that they are “placing hope on the Taiwanese people”, seek “peaceful development” and “oppose hegemony”, yet they are actually legislating forceful and non-peaceful measures to deal with the Taiwanese people, deceiving them and hurting their feelings in the process.
The MAC reiterates that over the past five years, the Taiwanese Government has made many efforts to improve cross-Strait relations. Concrete suggestions for establishing cross-Strait peace and stability have been proposed in cross-Strait exchanges and dialogues, yet the Chinese authorities completely dismiss the Taiwanese Government’s relentless and genuine efforts to improve cross-Strait relations by formulating this law, which creates barriers against further cross-Strait exchanges and resumption of dialogue. The Taiwanese Government would like to appeal to the international community again to challenge China’s hegemonic behavior demonstrated in its “saying one thing and doing another”, and to take concrete actions to assist in safeguarding the present peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.