May 07 2005 at 10:29AM
By Tiffany Wu

Taipei - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, facing criticism from members of his own party over visits to mainland China by opposition leaders, called a meeting to defend his stance and pledged to uphold the island's sovereignty.

Chen's move came after James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's second largest opposition party, the pro-unification People First Party (PFP), openly declared his opposition to Taiwanese independence on arrival in China on Thursday.

Soong's remarks grated on the ears of some members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, especially as Chen had given his endorsement to the PFP trip and said he had asked Soong to relay a message to Chinese leaders for him.

'You can oppose Taiwanese independence but you cannot say Taiwanese independence is not an option'
"The Republic of China is an independent country and sovereignty belongs to Taiwan's 23 million people," Chen told senior DPP members at a meeting on Friday night, using the island's official name.

"Any change in Taiwan's future must be decided by the 23 million people," he said.

Soong's bridge-building visit, following on the heels of a historic reconciliation between Beijing and Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) or Nationalists who once ruled all of China, has increased pressure on Chen to open dialogue himself.

However, Beijing, which considers democratic Taiwan to be part of its territory, has insisted that Chen accept its "one China" principle as a precondition for talks - putting the pro-independence Taiwanese president in a dilemma, analysts say.

Public opinion polls indicate that most Taiwan people want better ties with China so as to reduce tensions in one of Asia's most dangerous hot spots. But if Chen kowtows to Beijing, he risks losing the DPP's core pro-independence support base.

Chen told his party that his basic stance on upholding Taiwanese sovereignty had not changed, and it was precisely because his views are different from Lien and Soong's that they can go and shake hands with Chinese leaders whereas he cannot.

"Yesterday in Xian, Soong said Taiwanese independence is not an option. I don't approve of that," Chen told the meeting, according to a statement issued by his office on Saturday.

Chen said Taiwan allows freedom of expression, but noted: "You cannot restrict the right of Taiwanese people to make free decisions on Taiwan's future. You can oppose Taiwanese independence but you cannot say Taiwanese independence is not an option."

Despite his criticism, Chen again called for unity in Taiwan and said internal divisions only benefit China.

Responding to the so-called "China fever" that has swept the island, Chen said the opposition visits to China can be seen as "Taiwan fever" from China's perspective.

"If this trend can allow the people of China and the international community to see the differences between the two sides, especially Taiwan's mature democracy and freedom of speech against the other side's one-party rule and controls on speech, then this is good publicity for Taiwan," Chen said.

Soong was in Nanjing, the former KMT capital, on Saturday to pay respects at the mausoleum of Sun Yat Sen, father of the revolution that toppled China's last emperor in 1911.

"When Mr Yat Sen established the Republic of China, he hoped Chinese people wouldn't be scattered like sand," Soong said. "Although we are divided by only 100 kilometres, what separates us is not the water but how we can connect our hearts and souls."