Taiwan and China cousins: Premier

        In a Sept. 29 op-ed piece in the Asian Wall Street Journal, ROC Premier Frank Hsieh characterized the relationship between Taiwan and China as one between cousins, and he urged Beijing to renounce threat of war as a means of dealing with the cross-strait issue. The premier opined that China's military expansion represented the greatest challenge to security in East Asia.

        "The rise of China has become a matter of world concern and a challenge to regional peace and stability," he wrote.

        Hsieh's opinion piece cited evidence provided by the U.S. Defense Department report on China's military modernization that Taiwanese cities are being targeted by more than 700 Chinese missiles. "China's military expansion will destroy the balance of military power in the Taiwan Strait and gravely threaten peace and stability in Asia," wrote the premier.

        Maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is crucial for the security of East Asia, where the continuation of peace and prosperity is determined by China's next move, Hsieh wrote. He added that ROC President Chen Shui-bian had expressed his hope for reconciliation and cooperation and called on Beijing to resume government-to-government talks under the principles of democracy, parity and peace.

        Chen's appeals to Beijing to engage in direct dialogue with the popularly elected government of Taiwan were echoed by world leaders, such as U.S. President George W. Bush, according to Hsieh. Reiterating that the government in Taiwan has continuously shown good will toward China, the premier wrote that Chen hopes to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao at this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's Economic Leaders' Meeting.

        Hsieh described the China visits of Taiwan's opposition party leaders as a stratagem used by Beijing to ease the tension that has been growing since it unilaterally enacted an "anti-secession law" in March. The law, which ostensibly authorizes Beijing to use force to annex Taiwan, put a damper on cross-strait relations, which had seen some improvement following moves to allow charter flights to fly across the Taiwan Strait during Lunar New Year.

        Pointing out that Taiwan is the world's first and only democracy in a Chinese society, Hsieh wrote that Taiwan must help China engage in a positive rise. The nation hopes to do so, he wrote, by joining the international democratic community to lead China toward adopting a democratic system, even as more countries in Asia embrace democratic political systems that value freedom and human rights.

        "As two of the world's ethnic Chinese societies, China and Taiwan are not natural enemies, but cousins sharing deep historical and cultural ties," Hsieh wrote. "We, therefore, have an obligation to assist and push China to rise in a positive manner, one that protects and promotes the human rights of all Chinese people."