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Jiang pledges to take army to war to liberate Taiwan
2001-06-30
BEIJING - Chinese President Jiang Zemin vowed to lead the People's Liberation Army (PLA) into war if Taiwan formally declared independence, state-run media said Sunday. The report on the official Qianlong website came only hours after Jiang listed the reunification of Taiwan as one of the "historic tasks" facing the party in the new century in a speech marking Sunday's 80th anniversary of the founding of the China Communist Party (CCP). "If (Taiwan President) Chen Shui-bian has the audacity to go in for Taiwan independence, then I will lead you to liberate Taiwan," Jiang was quoted as telling some 100 PLA generals sometime in the last month. Jiang's "recent" remarks -- some of his most direct on the use of military force to take back Taiwan -- were made to generals participating in ongoing joint war exercises off the coast of the southeastern province of Fujian, and across the strait from Taiwan. The drills started June 1 and were scheduled to last two months. The Chinese president "made it clear to the generals that the military exercises were to show the entire nation and the entire world that if Chen Shui-bian dared to go in for Taiwan independence, then China would pay any price to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said. "Chen Shui-bian should harbor no illusions... on the state of cross-strait relations during the rule of his Democratic Progressive Party and he should harbor no illusions on the new US administration's capacity to interfere in China's affairs," Jiang said. Jiang further blasted recent overtures between Chen and former Taiwan president and ex-Kuomintang leader Lee Teng-hui as a "plot toward Taiwan independence," it said. Lee stepped down as president of the island last year after two terms in office, opening the way for Chen's presidential election victory and the end of 50 years of Kuomintang (KMT) rule of Taiwan. The Nationalist KMT paryy fled mainland China in 1949 after a bitter civil war with Mao Zedong's Communists. China has since considered Taiwan a renegade province that must be brought back under its rule, by military force if necessary. Last week, Beijing blasted the United States for helping Taiwan to test-fire a US-made Patriot anti-missile system on June 21, and demanded an end to all US arms sales to the island. In his speech to the nation Sunday, Jiang reiterated Beijing's right to use force if necessary to bring Taiwan back into the folds of the "motherland" and in an implicit jab at the United States, vowed to fight "global hegemonism and power politics." "The complete reunification of the motherland is a mission for all CCP members and..., a historical trend that cannot be blocked by any force," he said. The Qinlong website, which is run by the Beijing Daily and other official newspapers, called the ongoing mainland military exercises, involving over 100,000 soldiers, the "biggest military exercises aimed at Taiwan since the establishment of the People's Republic."
Indonesian police arrest Islamic militant (2002-05-03)Ex-China Military Commander Dies (2001-10-15)Jiang pledges to take army to war to liberate Taiwan (2001-06-30)China defence chief to visit SE Asia (2001-02-02)China Said Have No Intention to Attack Taiwan (2000-07-12)
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