Peace Bill fracas continues......and China snubs the KMT

President Chen today warned the pro-China parties that the proposed bill stripping the executive of its powers and handing them to the legislative branch would be tantamount to a surrender.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) warned opposition parties against proceeding with legislation that would reduce his power to negotiate with China, saying the bill would be tantamount to surrender.

"It's a peace promotion bill on the surface, but a surrender law in reality," Chen said.

"It would give China the power to decide on the future of Taiwan's 23 million people," he said. "If it is passed, I'm afraid ... 2 million Taiwanese would take to the streets to oppose it."

Chen's first public comments on the cross-strait peace advancement bill (兩岸和平促進法) were televised yesterday after he made them Thursday night at a meeting with members of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) have tried to use their legislative majority to pass the bill proposed by the PFP.

The proposed bill would let a 19-member special committee -- instead of the president -- decide on major issues related to China.

Those of you who wonder why we have slugfests in our legislature but none overseas might well take note of the fact that few foreign legislatures are controlled by two parties allied to a foreign country whose goal is to snuff out democracy in their nation. Taiwan is a very special case, and it is no wonder violence breaks out.

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China snubbed the KMT yesterday, rejecting the appointment of Legislative Speaker Wang from the KMT as Taiwan's representative to the ASEAN meeting later this year. As the Taiwan News put it very clearly:

Beijing's decision was undoubtedly a slap in the face for the KMT itself and a clear demonstration of the narrow limits of the touted "party-to party reconciliation" between the CCP and the KMT carried out by former KMT chairman Lien Chan and continued by Ma.

The message is quite clear: Reconciliation or cooperation between the CCP and KMT will take place only to the degree to which the KMT, or the People First Party for that matter, do and say what the CCP want and put the interests of the PRC and the CCP first.

Sometimes I do not understand what mainlanders are thinking. When the Chinese come over, do they think that they will have some special position? Wrong! Don't they know? -- authoritarians always shoot their friends when they are done using them. The CCP will tolerate the KMT only as long as it serves CCP interests and not one whit longer. When the KMT suddenly finds that it no longer has any freedom of operation, and protests, that will be that.

The really sad part is that when the Chinese come over, all those pro-China mainlanders are going to find out that they are really Taiwanese. And then it will be too late.....

[Taiwan] [China]