DATE=7/26/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA-TAIWAN (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-252143
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO: China's official news agency says there is no 
longer any basis for China and Taiwan to hold a 
scheduled round of talks in October because of the 
island's demand that Beijing treat it as a co-equal 
state.  V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison reports the 
Xinhua news agency commentary did not say explicitly 
that China would cancel a trip to Taiwan by Beijing's 
senior negotiator. But it is the strongest indication 
yet that the trip could be the latest casualty of 
Taiwan's shift in policy toward China.
        

TEXT:  The visit to Taiwan by Wang Daohan - who heads 
the semi-official association that deals with the 
island in the absence of official ties - was scheduled 
as a follow-on to a landmark trip by his Taiwanese 
counterpart to China last year.  That trip, by Koo 
Chen-fu, led to hopes that the two sides would restore 
a structured dialogue, which was broken off in 1995 
after Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui infuriated 
Beijing by traveling to the United States; China saw 
that as an attempt by Taiwan to seek a higher 
international profile.

Earlier this month, Mr. Lee again angered Beijing by 
saying that, henceforth, talks between the two sides 
should be conducted on a state-to-state basis.  
Despite 50 years of `de facto' separation, China 
regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be 
brought under its sway -- if need be by force.

Xinhua says Mr. Lee's statement destroys the basis for 
exchanges because it cancels a previous understanding 
that Taiwan and China are to be regarded as one 
country.  In the words of the official news agency, if 
Taiwan denies the one-China principle, then the 
foundation does not exist for cross-strait contacts - 
either dialogue or negotiations.

Diplomats in Beijing say China is waiting for 
Taiwanese senior negotiator Koo to clarify that 
continued dialogue will not be conducted on a state-
to-state basis.  But Mr. Koo told a U-S envoy to 
Taipei that Taiwan wants to talk to China on what he 
called an equal basis.

Meanwhile, China's foreign minister told a regional 
security forum in Singapore that Beijing will act if 
there is any attempt to create a separate Taiwan.  
Tang Jiaxuan also warned what he called "foreign 
forces" not to get involved in China's dispute with 
the island.  Although the United States only 
recognizes Beijing, it sells Taiwan defensive weapons 
and has a commitment to defend it against aggression.

A leading Chinese foreign policy expert, Yan Xuetong, 
writes in Monday's official China Daily, that Mr. 
Lee's redefinition of China-Taiwan ties will force 
Beijing to take military action to stop separatism on 
the island.  (signed)
Neb/rw/jo/rrm



26-Jul-1999 06:32 AM LOC (26-Jul-1999 1032 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.