China: China stepped up the pressure on Taiwan yesterday when the annual parliament in Beijing tabled an "anti-secessionist" Bill. It explicitly threatens to invade Taiwan to force reunification which mainland China sees as a renegade province.
If self-ruled Taiwan should dare to declare independence from the mainland, China "shall employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity", Wang Zhaoguo, a senior legislator, told China's annual parliament.
The US voiced its opposition to the bill: "We view it as unhelpful and something that runs counter to recent trends toward a warming in cross straits relations [ with Taiwan]. We call on Beijing to reconsider passage of the law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Although the Bill before the National People's Congress didn't say what specific actions might bring about a Chinese invasion, it is seen as a strong display of sabre-rattling and the language of the Bill was aggressive.
Aware of the strain that such overt militarism could put on ever-improving relations with Washington, Mr Wang tried to soothe fears of cross-Strait escalation, saying that peaceful reunification was still Beijing's ultimate goal. "So long as there is a glimmer of hope for peaceful reunification, we will exert our utmost to make it happen rather than give it up," said Mr Wang, who sits on the Communist Party's elite 24-member Politburo. "Using non-peaceful means would be our last resort," Mr Wang told nearly 3,000 legislators gathered in the Great Hall of the People.
China's communist government has always considered invasion an option when it comes to Taiwan, which is a great thorn in the side of the resurgent new China. Resolving the Taiwan issue is one of the "three historic tasks of the Communist Party of China and the country".
The law will sail through the largely ceremonial parliament when voting takes place next Monday at the end of the 10-day session, which will also approve a big increase in China's military budget.