Monday, 29 March 2004 - 2:29 PM EST

Taiwan President Pushes Independence From China
Chen Condemns Beijing for Stifling Democracy in Hong Kong

By Philip P. Pan and David E. Hoffman
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 29, 2004; 11:55 AM


TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 29 -- President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan condemned China on Monday for blocking popular demands for democratic reform in Hong Kong, saying its actions have made the Taiwanese people more determined to reject unification with the mainland and to continue building their own "independent, sovereign country" despite the risk of war.

In his first interview since a failed attempt on his life and a narrow election victory that his opponents have challenged, Chen also declared he had won a mandate from voters and vowed to push ahead with plans to write a new constitution for Taiwan within two years, a move China has said could amount to a declaration of independence and compel it seize the island by force. Bush administration officials have also expressed concern the plan might drag the United States into a military confrontation with China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33076-2004Mar29?language=printer

Monday, 29 March 2004 - 10:19 PM EST

Call me conspiratorial, but do you think this might have anything to do with Dominica reading the tea leaves over the whole Haiti situation? We threaten every country in the Caribbean with simular treatment unless they tow the line and we send a message to President Chen, too. Pretty much no country in the Western Hemisphere does something like this without consulting with Condi Rice first.

Check out her alleged arm-twisting regarding Jamaica:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/25/1537236&mode=thread&tid=25


Dominica Switches Relations to China
21 minutes ago

By ELLSWORTH CARTER, Associated Press Writer

ROSEAU, Dominica - The island of Dominica switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China on Monday, after the communist state offered a $112 million aid package.

Taiwan responded hours later by breaking ties with the Caribbean nation. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Shih said his country would likely recall all personnel.

In a radio address to the nation on Monday, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit called Dominica's policy toward Taiwan unrealistic.

"The Commonwealth of Dominica, like the overwhelming majority of members of the United Nations (news - web sites), recognizes that Taiwan is a part of the Chinese territory," Skerrit said.

Skerrit, who took power Jan. 8 following the death of Prime Minister Pierre Charles, said his government had reassessed Dominica's foreign relations and concluded that "our policy with respect to Taiwan was based upon unrealistic and fallacious historical interpretations."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040330/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/dominica_taiwan