Chinese President Reiterates Military Option If Taiwan Declares Independence
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: China's president is again threatening military action if Taiwan declares independence. CNN's Beijing bureau chief Rebecca MacKinnon reports.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Chinese President Jiang Zemin is sticking to his guns and won't give up the option of military force against Taiwan, the island China considers a renegade province. Borrowing from an ancient Chinese poem, Jiang told a group of Hong Kong representatives, "we are like beans and pods from the same stock. We should not try to destroy each other. Taiwan independence would do that." Four years ago, China conducted major live-fire exercises near Taiwan as a warning to the island's president. But as the island prepares to choose a new president in less than two weeks, the Chinese threats seem unlikely to go beyond words anytime soon.</s>ADM. DENNIS BLAIR, U.S. NAVY PACIFIC COMMANDER: Both the deployment patterns of China and those of Taiwan, and those of the United States, are fairly normal during this time.</s>MACKINNON: On a recent visit to Beijing, the head of U.S. Pacific forces warned that even verbal threats against Taiwan are counterproductive. Many observers say those verbal threats of action by the People's Liberation Army are still very theoretical.</s>YAN XUETONG, MILITARY ANALYST: The peaceful reunification is still the main goal of China's Taiwan policy, is still a paramount gold of the mainland-Taiwan policy.</s>MACKINNON: In delegate sessions at China's National People's Congress, the emphasis has been on peace not war. "We want to reunify China peacefully," says this delegate." That's extremely important for China." (on camera): Many say they hope their government will do everything in its power to prevent an armed conflict with Taiwan because the impact of such a conflict would be devastating for the Chinese people. Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN, Beijing.