BEIJING (Reuters) - China may attack Taiwan if the island's President Chen Shui-bian pushes ahead with a plan for a new constitution by 2008, the China Daily on Friday quoted a top Taiwan affairs official as saying. The remarks by Vice Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office Wang Zaixi were the latest tough words by Beijing toward the democratically ruled island, which it regards as a breakaway province that must be reclaimed by force if necessary.
Beijing sees Chen's goal of adopting a new constitution in 2008 as a drive toward a formal declaration of independence, and has been preparing for a possible military showdown with Taiwan. "New tensions and even a serious crisis in the cross-Straits situation may arise if Chen obstinately pursues his timetable," the China Daily quoted Wang as saying in an interview. "We cannot completely rule out the possibility though it is not at all what we hoped for," Wang said of military conflict. Both sides have held war games this month amid simmering political tensions. |