Beijing Wednesday flatly rejected Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian's new "five no's'' policy towards the mainland, describing it as a plot to present a false picture of stable cross-Straits ties.
Chen unveiled the new policy, which describes Taiwan's relations with the mainland, late Sunday night during a visit to Guatemala.
According to Chen, the new "five no's'' are: no provocation of the mainland; no misjudgment of the cross-Straits situation; no acting as a pawn for other countries; no halting of efforts to improve cross-Straits relations; and no war with the mainland.
In delivering Beijing's first official response to the policy, Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, denounced it as inadequate.
"There is not enough sincerity and kindness (in the five no's) and the move exposes his unwillingness to develop cross-Straits relations despite his attempt to hide it,'' Zhang said.
The official told a press conference that the policy offered nothing new and claimed Chen was "just going on about his subjective opinions.''
When he took office last May, Chen said he would follow the "four no's,'' which required Taiwan to refrain from declaring independence, changing the "national title,'' including the concept of "state-to-state'' relations between the island and the mainland in its "constitution,'' or promoting any referendum on changing the status quo in regard to independence.
"No matter how hard the Taiwan leader tries to whitewash his incapability and failure in improving cross-Straits relations, his efforts amount to little more than self-deception. He will never succeed in winning trust from the people of Taiwan or the global media,'' Zhang said of Chen's comments in Guatemala.
Zhang noted that Chen has so far refused to accepted the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus. The spokesman also pointed out that the Taiwanese leader doesn't even recognize himself as Chinese.
Acceptance of the one-China principle, which holds that Taiwan and the mainland are a part of the same China, has been set by Beijing as a precondition for resumption of any cross-Straits talks.
Rather than accept this principle, Zhang said, "Chen has been attempting to rely on foreign forces to impede the peaceful reunification of the motherland.''
"He cannot shirk responsibility for the failure to break the current stalemate that exists between Taiwan and the mainland.''
Zhang urged Chen to explicitly embrace the one-China principle as soon as possible and take concrete steps to develop cross-Straits relations.
"Only on that foundation can relations between the two sides be improved steadily,'' he said.
Xu Shiquan, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said earlier that Chen has actually become a pawn in a game being played by anti-China and anti-Communist forces in the United States.
(China Daily 05/31/2001)
