Advisers to Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui believe Beijing will not go beyond verbal attacks in reaction to his remarks on 'state-to-state' relations, Taiwanese sources said yesterday.
'Lee's statement, though redefining ties with Beijing as 'special state-to-state' relations, has not gone beyond the line and named a new state title or declared independence,' a Taiwanese source close to Mr Lee's advisers said. 'This would provide infuriated Beijing with a weak excuse to use force.' In an interview with Germany's Deutsche Welle radio station last week, Mr Lee said: 'Since we conducted our constitutional reforms in 1991, we have redefined cross-strait relations as state-to-state, or at least as special state-to-state relations.' The statement triggered a domestic controversy, with some analysts and politicians saying the President had taken a 'strategic' step towards formal independence.
There was also speculation that with presidential elections coming up in March, Mr Lee was trying to put his ambiguous mainland policy for the past 10 years 'down on public record' before he retired.
'This reflects that Lee has no trust that his heir [Kuomintang presidential candidate] Lien Chan will continue his existing mainland policy if elected,' the source said.
Mr Lee was worried that his successor would 're-adjust his mainland policy to become more pro-reunification'.
Mr Lee's advisers suggested his statement would help to 'confirm' the existing pro-independence policy.