BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's top Taiwan policymakers said
Monday armed conflict will be unavoidable if the island keeps
provoking and pushing for independence, but held out hope for the
rivals reopening long-stalled dialogue.
Tension has been simmering since the March re-election of Taiwan
President Chen Shui-bian, who said last week the next two years are
key to resuming dialogue with China and suggested the two sides set
up a "buffer zone" to avoid accidental military conflict.
"I think it is unavoidable tension will rise in the Taiwan Straits
and there may even be armed conflict ... if the island keeps
bumping Beijing's 'one China' bottom line and pushes for
independence," Wang Zaixi, vice minister of the Taiwan Affairs
Office, told Reuters in a rare interview. "The Chen Shui-bian
authorities are exploiting our restraint on the Taiwan issue," he
said.
"They are attempting to exploit ... the fact that mainland
compatriots are focusing energy on developing the economy and
exploit our preparations for the 2008 Olympics," said Wang, a
People's Liberation Army major general before becoming vice
minister in 2000.
But Wang held out hope for the two sides to resume dialogue under
the "one China" principle which dictates that the mainland and the
island are part of a single country.
Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at
the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has threatened to
attack the democratic island if it formally declares
independence.
