China warns Taiwan against `creeping independence'

Knight Ridder Newspapers ^ | Fri, Mar 04, 2005 1 hour, 40 minutes ago | By Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder Newspapers

[Tulsa Ramjet]

BEIJING - In measured but resolute terms, China's leader warned Taiwan on Friday against pursuing "creeping independence" and said Beijing would thwart any step by the independently ruled island toward declaring sovereignty.

President Hu Jintao spoke as legislators gathered to consider a draft law that would codify China's legal right to attack Taiwan and seek unification by military means.

"We will never tolerate Taiwan independence and never allow the Taiwan independence forces to make Taiwan secede from the motherland under any name or by any means," Hu told a preliminary session before Saturday's start of an annual 10-day meeting of the rubber-stamp National People's Congress.

Military tensions across the strait are high. Taiwan says China has 706 short-range ballistic missiles aimed at the island. China announced Friday that it's boosting military spending by 12.6 percent this year to about $30 billion.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

Ego. An interesting purpose for war.

[bikepacker67]

I'm sure the Chinese look at Taiwan like Lincoln looked at the Confederacy.

[JockoManning]

ping.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

except this "confederacy" has stated support from a formidable ally.

[Constantine XIII]

And the Tiawanese haven't enslaved anyone.

Oh, and the mainland is a Communist oligarchy.

:P

[paulmartin]

who merely offers to provide a means by which Taiwan can put up a defense, not necessarily direct American military involvement.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

I think we will all be surprised on what would and would not happen if things escalated.

[Alex Marko]

Come on Tancredo...open your ignorant mouth now, take up a gun and go fight for taiwan.

[tet68]

as legislators gathered to consider a draft law that would codify China's legal right to attack Taiwan and seek unification by military means.

War! It's the LAW!

Unification by military means, presumably some
"re-education" will be in order, some "self criticism",
perhaps some "reordering" of the means of production,
of those people and facilities that are left standing.

Do you think they will suspend Habeas Corpus?

[DoughtyOne]

Except that mainland China was the Confederacy in this instance.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

there would be a lot of corpuses, and habeas will have left town.

[tallhappy]

I'm sure the Chinese look at Taiwan like Lincoln looked at the Confederacy.

Nonsense.

They do not.

Taiwan was part of Japan when they started the civil war in China. Taiwan had nothing to do with the Chinese civil war.

[tet68]

I fear you are correct sir.

One can only await the news that Taiwanese forces
have attacked and taken over a radio station at Gleiwitz
on August 31st.

[clearsight]

"We will never tolerate Taiwan independence and never allow the Taiwan independence forces to make Taiwan secede from the motherland under any name or by any means"
This is China misinformation and B.S.: China never controlled or had an interest in Taiwan until Chang Chi Cheq?? went there to escape death during the Communist takeover of China. China has never gotten over the fact that his (Chang) and subsequent dem. govt in Taiwan has out produced and literally embarrassed the great communist China HOAX. CHINA has lost face in front of the whole world because of the success of the Taiwanese govt. They think to save face by taking back Taiwan which they never ever controlled. The Chinese govt is a liar. The U.S. media and govt. is complicit in keeping this lie before the American People.

[samadams2000]

as opposed to a warning about creepy chinese.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

very astute.

[El Gato]

I'm sure the Chinese look at Taiwan like Lincoln looked at the Confederacy.

Not the same thing at all. The Red Chinese overthrew the Nationalist government on the mainland. But they never ruled Taiwan. Lincoln was elected President in an election in which the Southern states took part. However, his election was the straw the broke the camels back, so to speak, and finally convined the South to try to seceed.

[NATIVEDAUGHTER]

A policy of helping Taiwan maintain it's independence has much more legitimacy than opening our borders to every group that seeks to infiltrate our society....and has far more importance than invading nations full of towel-heads looking for weapons of "mass destruction" that aren't there...Tancredo is far smarter than the bumpkin in the White House we have now...

[Fishing-guy]

Don't worry. Republic of China is alive and well on Taiwan. The Taiwan independence supporters are in full-retreat and wasting time fighting among themselves.

Wait 20 years and mainland will become democratic and maybe even modeled after the democratic ROC. Those old communist and Taiwan independence supporters will be long gone.

[ml1954]

Taiwan is the best evidence that the leaders of China are basically out of their minds. They are megalomaniacs. Tiananmen Square was not a miscalculation. It is what they are.

They could make China into an economic powerhouse if they want. Instead they are obsessed with subjugating Taiwan and may be willing to risk all to do it. They think they can defeat the US in this (if not now then in the foreseeable future) and earn their superpower credentials this way.