Taipei's decision to change its passport design threatens to become
another creeping pro-independence move that will worsen
cross-Straits relations, leading mainland experts on Taiwan studies
warned Friday.
Li
Jiaquan, a senior researcher with the Institute of Taiwan Studies
under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said:
"This unwise scheme can do nothing but hurt the already tense
cross-Straits situation and build up mutual mistrust.
"Moreover, the proactive step goes against the common aspiration of
the majority of Taiwanese compatriots for long-term peace and
stability in cross-Straits ties.''
The researcher's warning came after the island's "foreign
ministry'' unveiled a new passport with the word "Taiwan'' written
in English on its cover.
The "ministry'' originally wanted to add "Issued in Taiwan'' onto
passport covers last year. It was forced to shelve that plan after
strong criticism from the Chinese mainland, which saw the proposal
as an attempt to move the island towards independence.
Taiwan passports currently have the island's official name
"Republic of China'' on the cover in English and Chinese. This is a
legacy from when the Kuomintang (KMT) party ran the Chinese
mainland.
Beijing, however, insists that the government of the People's
Republic of China is the sole legitimate representative of the
entire Chinese nation and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of
China.
Taiwan's "foreign minister'' Eugene Chien reportedly argued that
the latest change would help foreign customs officials and airlines
distinguish between Taiwanese and Chinese mainland citizens.
The new passport cover will be issued in September after the stock
of old passports is used up, Chien said.
An
unidentified official with the State Council's Taiwan Affairs
Office said Friday that his organization has noted the new
development but he declined to comment.
Professor Fan Xizhou, former director of the Taiwan Research
Institute of Xiamen University in east China's Fujian Province,
described the move as a blatant demonstration of separatist
ideology by Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
That party, which ended more than 50 years of Kuomintang rule over
the island in 2000, enshrines Taiwan independence in its party
platform.
"The passport change is proof of the fact that the DPP led by
Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian still clings to its pro-independence
stand,'' Fan told China Daily.
"The move also reflects the island's lack of sincerity in
developing cross-Straits relations.''
The professor added that Chen has been promoting creeping
independence through a string of de-Sinofication moves in an
attempt to create a "republic of Taiwan'' step by step since Chen
took office in May 2000.
Researcher Li said that the "politically motivated'' plan is also
designed as an electoral strategy to help Chen woo both
pro-independence and moderate voters in next year's "presidential''
elections.
"The passport change is aimed at reminding the DPP's fundamentalist
faction, consisting of die-hard separatist members, that Chen
himself remains loyal to the party's pro-independence stance,''
said the researcher.
On
the other hand, he noted, Chen has shrewdly managed to stop short
of taking too radical a move, such as changing the official name of
the island.
As
a political trick to show off his implementation of a
middle-of-the-road policy, Chen's cautious step to make only minor
changes to passports is targeting voters in the middle ground who
prefer the status quo in cross-Straits relations, according to
Li.
Chen has been lagging behind opposition leaders Lien Chan of the
Kuomintang and James Soong of the People First Party in the polls
since those two opposition parties agreed to establish an alliance
in next year's elections.
(China Daily June 14, 2003)