The Mouse-Mouth That Almost Roared has now overtaken George W. Bush for the top spot as the world's most stupid head of state. Mr. Chen Shui-bian is taunting China over the biggest canard left over from the Cold War--that Taiwan is not a part of the People's Republic of China. Not only is he taunting the elephant that can sit on him without feeling more than what the Princess did of that pea under her mattress, but he is trying to put the United States into the terribly awkward position of having to publicly "disown" its former adopted orphan or face a military confrontation it cannot win without destroying civilization as we know it. China cannot and will not let Taiwan assert a sham "independence." But it is perfectly willing to let the current status quo go on almost indefinitely. Mr. Chen is playing with the biggest fire there is for the purpose of his re-election campaign. What a stupid, stupid man.
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 28 — Taiwan's legislature took a half-step back on Thursday night from an immediate confrontation with China, passing a bill that would allow national referendums on constitutional and sovereignty issues only under very narrow circumstances.
Chinese officials had tried to dissuade Taiwanese politicians from endorsing any bill to provide for referendums, but had devoted most of their criticisms to a rival measure, supported by President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan, that would have made it easy for him to call referendums. Most provisions of that bill were defeated in the legislature on Thursday night.
Chinese and American officials had feared that legislation permitting a referendum on Taiwanese independence from the mainland would lead to a showdown in the Taiwan Straits that neither China nor the United States wants now.
China is trying to pay more attention to economic growth, especially in its interior provinces, while the United States has been preoccupied with Iraq and with seeking China's cooperation in trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.
The Bush administration has reaffirmed repeatedly the principle that there is one China encompassing Taiwan and the mainland, but Chinese officials have called for the United States to do more. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened to use military force to prevent it from becoming a fully independent nation.
Mr. Chen and his Democratic Progressive Party have tried to move Taiwan gingerly toward somewhat greater independence status and had sought a referendum bill for that purpose. But most of the provisions in the final bill came from amendments by the opposition, which opposes full independence and has more seats in the politically fractured legislature than Mr. Chen's party.
Even a narrowly written referendum bill could still irk Beijing's leaders, by establishing a precedent for holding any referendums at all on what Beijing regards as Chinese soil.
The final bill bars referendums on changing the flag of Taiwan or Taiwan's official name, the Republic of China. The legislation also makes it extremely hard to hold a referendum to amend the constitution and bars referendums to draft a new or completely rewritten constitution.
Following approval of the bill, lawmakers from Mr. Chen's party were so upset that they tried to schedule additional votes to undo it. They contended the law involved an unconstitutional transfer of power from the executive branch to the legislature, by allowing the legislature to call referendums but making it hard for the president to do so. ...
Justin Chou, a spokesman for the Nationalist Party, said that the party was "very happy with the result" of Thursday's voting. The party was not acting because of the threats from China but because of what it saw as the best course for Taiwan, he added.
There was no immediate reaction to the bill from Beijing, where officials sometimes mull events in Taiwan for a day or two before issuing a response.
