BEIJING scholars who warned there would be war if Mr Chen won the election softened their rhetoric yesterday, saying he had 'modified' his position on independence.
An authoritative Taiwan affairs think-tank said Beijing would demand Mr Chen immediately recognise the 'one-China' principle and that Taiwan could not have independence.
Li Jiaquan, a research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said: 'Mr Chen has to live up to his words to give up calling a referendum for Taiwan independence and to renounce claims that Taiwan is a separate nation.
'We've observed that Chen has modified his pro-independence stance in the past few weeks. We'll wait and see if Mr Chen shows his sincerity to ease cross-strait tension.' Mr Li had earlier said Beijing could achieve reunification within 24 hours if Mr Chen declared independence.
If he had softened his stance 'for peaceful reunification', the timetable for cross-strait reunification could be longer, Mr Li said, adding that it could take three to five years or even longer.
But if Mr Chen or Taiwan moved towards independence, the timetable could be much shorter, he warned.
