Mainland Affairs Council--Press Release
March 8, 2005, No. 034
The Chinese authorities’ deliberation of the ''Anti-Separation Law'' clearly reveals the essence of their military
aggression
In response to China’s legislation of the “Anti-Separation Law”, the Mainland Affairs Council, Executive Yuan, issues
the following official statement:
Through the legislation of the law, the Chinese authorities intend to deny the Republic of China its sovereignty and
unilaterally change the status quo. It has already created tension in the region and justifies the concern of both the
international community and the Taiwanese Government over China’s motives. This law exposes China’s intent to use
military force to annex Taiwan and dominate the region. It has essentially written a blank check for its military to
resort to military force against Taiwan. The Taiwanese Government offers the strongest protest regarding the disruption
of peace in the East Asian region and stability in the Taiwan Strait, ignoring of the Taiwanese people’s will and
encroachment of the Taiwanese people’s freedom of choice through ill intentions and violent measures.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), firmly states that the current situation in the Taiwan Strait is that the Republic
of China is a sovereign nation and both sides of the Strait have no jurisdiction over one another. The Taiwanese people
cannot accept China’s “one country, two systems” arrangement. Any changes to the status quo must require the consensus
of the twenty-three million Taiwanese people and the Chinese authorities must accept this fact. The Chinese authorities
deliberately attempt to unrealistically dwarf Taiwan by legislating the “one China policy” and “one country, two
systems,” and persist on adopting non-peaceful measures to solve cross-strait conflicts. The MAC stresses that the
direct-presidential election in Taiwan in 1996 was an important process in deepening democratization in Taiwan. The
international community should still be able to recall China’s military intimidation by launching missiles in the Taiwan
Strait and igniting anxiety on all fronts. The Chinese authorities now adopt legal authorization, which they may resort
to methods of violence against Taiwan. This will inevitably endanger peace and security in Taiwan Strait and the East
Asian region.
The Republic of China pursues free democracy and have always receive high-level of recognition from the international
community. The Taiwanese government believes that “the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom and
democracy throughout the world.” This is also the same value which the United States of America, Japan, European Union
and other countries pursue with Republic of China. This is the biggest difference between the Republic of China and the
People's Republic of China. The MAC stresses that, the collective will of the Taiwanese people is expressed through
democratic processes. But the Chinese authorities intend to suppress the Taiwanese people with “non-peaceful” and
“non-democratic” measures. This shows a clear lack of democratic knowledge by the Chinese authorities and is also the
worst ill intended trampling of international human rights and value of democracy.
In the past, the Taiwanese public opinion has explicitly expressed repeatedly that on the one hand, their hope of
maintaining cross-strait peace and stability, and on the other hand, their persistence of maintaining a self-governing
democratic system. The MAC points out that at the moment, the international community is very concerned about China’s
formulation of the “Anti-Separation Law.” The Chinese authorities have not considered the Taiwanese people's common
aspiration and even disregarded the anxieties of the international community. The Chinese authorities constantly
proclaim the so-call “placing hope on the Taiwanese people”, “peaceful development” and “oppose hegemony”, but is
actually legislating forceful and “non-peaceful” measures to deal with the Taiwanese people; deceiving and hurting the
feelings of the Taiwanese people.
The MAC indicates that in the past five years, the Taiwanese Government has made many efforts to improve cross-strait
relations. Concrete suggestions for constructing cross-strait peace and stability have been proposed in cross-strait
exchanges and dialogues, yet the Chinese authorities completely dismiss the Taiwanese Government’s continuous efforts in
improving cross-strait relations by formulating this law and creating barriers against further cross-strait exchanges
and resumption of dialogues. The Taiwanese Government would like to appeal to the international community again, to
challenge China’s false hegemony behavior of “saying one thing and doing another”, and take concrete actions to assist
in safeguarding the present peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
ENDS