DATE=2/22/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-TAIWAN (L)
NUMBER=2-259423
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:


INTRO:  China has reiterated its warning to Taiwan 
that, if it continues to drag its feet on negotiating 
its reunification with the mainland, Beijing might be 
compelled to use force.  VOA correspondent Roger 
Wilkison reports China's Foreign Ministry says that, 
following the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese 
sovereignty, resolving the Taiwan issue has become 
urgent.

TEXT:  At a regular news briefing Tuesday, Chinese 
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao stepped up the 
pressure on Taiwan to begin talks on reunification.  
Mr. Zhu -- speaking through an interpreter -- restated 
the main point contained in a government white paper 
on the Taiwan question that was issued Monday.

            /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////

Should there be the indefinite refusal by authorities 
of Taiwan of peaceful negotiations to solve the 
reunification issue, the Chinese government has no 
choice but to take all measures, including the use of 
force to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial 
integrity and to realize its national reunification.

            /////END ACTUALITY/////

China has always said it would attack Taiwan if the 
island were to declare formal independence or if it 
were to be invaded by foreign forces.  But Monday's 
policy paper added Taiwanese foot-dragging over 
reunification to the list of provocative circumstances 
that would compel it to use force against the island.

With only weeks to go before Taiwanese vote in 
presidential elections, the white paper's release is 
seen by diplomats and other analysts as an attempt to 
put pressure on candidates and voters.  Mr. Zhu says 
the document was intended to get Taiwan to agree to 
the so-called  "one country-two systems" formula China 
used to regain Hong Kong and Macau whereby Beijing 
grants those territories considerable autonomy.

            /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////

It is natural that we have this urgency of solving 
this question of Taiwan.  And the question of Taiwan 
cannot be dragged out indefinitely.

            /////END ACTUALITY/////

There has been no indication that Beijing has decided 
on a timetable for reunification with the island that 
has enjoyed de facto independence since the 
Nationalists took refuge there 51 years ago after 
losing a civil war to the Communists.  Beijing was 
infuriated last year when Taiwanese President Lee 
Teng-hui suggested that the two sides should deal with 
each other on a state-to-state basis.  Beijing 
considers Taiwan a wayward province and demands that 
the island acknowledge that it is part of China.

            /////INTERPRETER ACTUALITY/////

To insist on the one-China principle is the basis and 
the prerequisite for peaceful reunification and also 
the basis for the sound development of cross-strait 
relations and also contacts and dialogue across the 
Taiwan Strait.


            /////END ACTUALITY/////

Opinion polls in Taiwan have shown that most of the 
island's people favor a continuation of the status 
quo, with much less support for independence or 
reunification.  A European diplomat in Beijing says 
China's latest warning is a direct challenge to the 
status quo mainstream.  (signed)

NEB/RW/FC





NEB/RW 



22-Feb-2000 06:10 AM EDT (22-Feb-2000 1110 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.