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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Bid to change Taiwan law that prompted Beijing to warn of war risk falls at first hurdle

Critics warn that the proposed change to a law concerning mainland China risks Beijing’s anger by moving towards de jure independence

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DPP legislator Lin I-chin who proposed the change has dismissed opposition claims she quietly pulled the proposal, accusing her critics of “spreading falsehoods”. Photo: Handout
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
A controversial plan to change Taiwan’s law governing relations with mainland China, which critics said could edge the island towards “de jure independence”, appears to have collapsed within days.
The failure of the draft legislation to even reach the legislature’s agenda committee underscored the sensitivity of the issue amid mounting pressure from Beijing, which warned on Sunday that a declaration of independence would mean war.

The initiative to amend the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area was spearheaded and made public on Saturday by Lin I-chin, a lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

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It sought to rename the law the “Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China Relations Act” and remove the phrasing “prior to national unification” as well as references to both sides of the Taiwan Strait as “regions”.

Lin said these changes would better reflect political reality.

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The reason for the proposal’s apparent collapse was unclear, but it prompted accusations from the Beijing-friendly opposition Kuomintang that Lin had quietly withdrawn the legislation.

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