Taiwan Party Asserts Island’s Separate Identity
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s ruling party passed a resolution yesterday asserting the island’s separate identity and calling for a referendum on its sovereignty, but the party failed to put any real force behind it, apparently out of fear of provoking rival China.
The resolution — passed after a heated debate at a boisterous party congress — was the latest in a series of steps taken in the waning months of President Chen’s final term aimed at strengthening Taiwan’s de facto independence, without pushing Beijing so far that it could respond militarily.