CHINA/TAIWAN: China told Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian yesterday he was leading the island to disaster by backing a referendum on independence, as Taipei scrambled to assure Washington its policy had not changed.
A Beijing spokesman said Mr Chen's boldest statement since taking power in 2000 proved he was determined to seek independence for an island China sees as a rebel province and has threatened to attack if it declares statehood.
"We seriously warn Taiwan splittist forces not to wrongly judge the situation, to immediately stop the horse at the edge of the precipice and to stop all splittist activities," said Mr Li Weiyi, spokesman for the cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Beijing had been trying to avoid a dispute with Taiwan in the sensitive run-up to a leadership change later in the year, but Mr Chen appears to be taking advantage of the reshuffle to steal ground on the issue, analysts said.
Mr Chen's remarks would win him points in his Democratic Progressive Party, but risk angering Washington, which has pledged to help Taiwan defend itself but does not want a fight with China.