Taiwan's DPP stalls on independence

TAIPEI, MARCH 22. Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party, swept to power in presidential elections last week, ended a meeting today with no decision on whether to scrap its demand for a separate state.

Its central executive committee decided to kick the issue over to the party's policy committee for further study, the secretary- general, Mr. You Hsi-Kun, told a news conference.

``The central executive committee has no way of making a decision,'' Mr. You told reporters. ``After discussion, we reached a consensus and decided to send it to the policy committee for further study.''

Seeking to lower the temperature with Beijing, the DPP legislator, Mr. Chen Zau-Nan, a member of the executive, proposed replacing a clause in the party charter demanding a ``republic of Taiwan''.

He proposed a vaguely worded formula asserting Taiwan's status as a ``sovereign independent country.'' In other words, the party would not actively push for independence by changing Taiwan's official name - the Republic of China - but simply recognise what most people on the island already consider a reality. Such a formulation would not be acceptable to Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province and has threatened to invade if the island declared independence. But it would remove the most incendiary part of party doctrine.

Meanwhile, a senior DPP member today held open the possibility that the island's controversial $5.3 billion fourth nuclear power plant may go ahead despite party opposition.

The DPP leader, Mr. Chen Shui-Bian, pledged to scrap the project during his successful run for the presidency.

However, Mr. Chen's campaign manager said the reaction of international suppliers and contractors would have to be taken into account before any decision was taken to mothball the partially-completed facility.

``Basically, we oppose any new nuclear power plant in Taiwan, and this was the position held by Mr. Chen Shui-Bian during his presidential campaign,'' Mr. Chiou I-Jen told Reuters.

``But we have to look into such matters as whether killing the project would spark protests and disputes from foreign firms contracted to supply facilities,'' Mr. Chiou said.

Chen seeks peace with China

Taiwan's President-elect, Mr. Chen Shui-Bian, said today he sought eternal peace with China, describing it as a ``sense of mission.''

``I believe pursuing eternal peace in the Taiwan Strait is definitely our top goal,'' Mr. Chen told reporters before paying a courtesy call on Mr. Koo Chen-Fu, who was Taiwan's top envoy to China under the departing President, Mr. Lee Teng-Hui.

``It is also our moral obligation,'' Mr. Chen said. ``We have a sense of mission and urgency.''

``We need to stabilise our political and economic order no matter what,'' he said, adding that relations between the two sides were of the utmost importance.

China, alarmed at the prospect of Mr. Chen winning last Saturday's presidential elections, stepped up threats against the island's voters in the run-up to the polls. However, China's reaction to the result has been measured, saying it would watch Mr. Chen's words and deeds.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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