China plans anti-secession law for Taiwan

There are no reviewed versions of this page, so it may not have been checked for adherence to standards.

Sunday, March 6, 2005

The People's Republic of China government plans to pass an anti-secession law, aimed at preventing a declaration of Taiwan independence. The law shows the "strong determination of the Chinese people" and will "never allow secessionist forces working for 'Taiwan independence' to succeed at breaking away from the mainland" according to an announcement made by China's Premier Wen Jiabao at the National People's Congress in Beijing.

The Chinese State Council is also planning to increase the country's military budget by 12.6 percent, to US$29.98 billion, for the current fiscal year.

The anti-secession law, as well as the military budget increase will both be discussed during the parliamentary meetings which begin today, and continue for the next 12 days. Over 3,000 delegates assembled in the Great Hall of the People today to listen to Wen's two hour speech and begin discussions.

Taiwanese politicians reacted with disappointment to the planned anti-secession law, and promised protests in the streets of Taipei and Kaohsiung this Sunday. Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian even threatened to introduce an "anti-annexation" law to oppose China's move.

Sources

Animesh Roul. "China proposes massive military spending hike" — International Relations and Security, March 6, 2005
"China: No independence for Taiwan" — CNN, March 5, 2005
"Why Chinese are watching the NPC" — Xinhua, March 5, 2005
Benjamin Sand. "Taiwan Plans Protests in Response to Chinese Anti-Secession Law" — VOA, March 5, 2005

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.