From the Dept. of In Case You Didn't Already Have Enough To Worry About This Morning:
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian scrapped an advisory council on unifying the island with China, a move that Beijing has warned would set off a serious crisis in the region. The decision to shut down the National Unification Council (NUC) and to scrap symbolic guidelines on possible reunification with mainland China came despite pressure against the move from Taiwan's close ally Washington. "The National Unification Council will cease functioning and the budget no longer be appropriated," said the pro-independence Chen, an outspoken critic of Beijing's claim of sovereignty over the island.
"The National Unification Guidelines will also cease to apply," Chen told reporters after a meeting of Taiwan's top security agency, the National Security Council. Chen said the decision had been prompted by "China's persistent military threat and its attempts to use non-peaceful means to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait."
Opposition lawmakers Monday threatened to launch massive protests if Chen went ahead and scrapped the council.
"This is a dangerous sign of the escalation of activities by Taiwan separatists," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Chen Yunlin, director of the mainland's cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office, as saying last week. In a statement on its website, the office said that Chen's move "will certainly trigger a serious crisis across the Taiwan Straits and destroy peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region." It added: "We must sternly ask Chen Shui-bian to immediately stop his plan, which will bury the win-win prospects between the two sides of the (Taiwan) Strait." |