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Jacky Hsu

Nailene Chou

Beijing says the election result is proof that Taiwanese want peace and stability

The mainland fired another salvo of criticism at Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian  yesterday in its first official reaction following Saturday's election on the island, which saw Mr Chen fail to win control of the legislature.

The Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) concentrated  firepower on Mr Chen's recent moves towards  independence, downplaying the opposition's success in winning 114 seats in the 225-strong legislature.

Focusing on Mr Chen's attempts to replace the island's official name, 'Republic of China', with 'Taiwan' in the run-up to the election, TAO spokesman Li Weiyi   said  pro-independence schemes were not popular  on the island, and the election results showed  most people favoured peace, stability and development, he said.

Mr Li called Mr Chen 'the source of chaos'  in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the run-up to the legislative election, Mr Chen sought to remove  'China' from the name of Taiwan's representative offices abroad, and was planning to 'rectify'  names of all state and public enterprises within two years. He also continued to push for Taiwan's inclusion in the  UN.

Earlier, he unveiled his 'timetable for independence', which would have involved submitting a draft for a new constitution to a referendum in 2006, before declaring independence in 2008.

'Chen Shui-bian's reckless pursuit of separatist activities for Taiwan independence exacerbates cross-strait tension and constitutes the most serious cause for destabilising the  Asia-Pacific region,' Mr Li said.

He reiterated that the one-China principle was the only foundation for developing cross-strait relations. Mr Li derided as sheer 'fantasy' the national defence white paper issued by Taiwan on Tuesday, which said illegal immigrants from the mainland could act like a 'fifth column' to subvert the island from within.

'The purpose of this kind of talk is to stir up animosity and turn Taiwan people against the mainland,' he said.

Qiao Xinsheng  , a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, said the mainland could not 'bury its head in the sand like an ostrich' in the face of Mr Chen's determined pursuit of Taiwanese independence.

Despite the pro-independence coalition's setback in the legislative election, he said, Mr Chen would use all his executive power to push his independence agenda.

'Anything can happen in this turbulent situation,' he said. 'Beijing must not let down its guard.'

In Taipei, cabinet spokesman Chen Chi-mai  argued that the mainland was the source of chaos in  the Asia-Pacific,  citing  missiles targeting the island and  an intrusion by a mainland submarine into Japanese waters.

Mr Chen said the mainland's interpretation of Taiwan's election results was 'wrong'.

'They should not misread the results. The fact is there is no market for unification in Taiwan. Of all those [candidates] who supported 'one-China' or the so-called 'one country, two systems', only one was elected, indicating the unification issue does not sell here,' he said, referring to historian Li Ao.  The Kuomintang and its opposition allies campaigned  to maintain the cross-strait status quo.

Mr Chen said Taiwan was willing to hold talks on direct links with the mainland, but  they should  carry no political preconditions.



Chen branded 'source of chaos' in the region