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Bush: 'Let's Annex Taiwan' (Washington, D.C., May 15, 2003) -- Ignoring the recommendations of senior advisors, President George W. Bush said he plans to press on with his proposal to annex Taiwan. "This will just be an extendification of the American defensiveness shield over American territories," Bush said. "We want to make it clear to the mainland Chinese that we will absolutely not tolerate any hospitable or other aggressive acts toward our new Taiwanese territory." Bush said that he considers the annexation proposal no more than a logical "expansionizing" of his efforts to uphold the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act. He noted that he began "deformalization" of the procedure by which Taiwan acquired U.S. weapons technology in 2001, when he ended the annual review of military hardware requests and instituted a policy of supplying weapons on a "need-to-shoot basis." That was followed by his July 2002 establishment of the "Taiwan Weapons Bargain Warehouse," which allowed the Taiwanese military to stop by any time, day or night, and browse the aisles for the latest surplus weapons made available. Substantial discounts were given for large purchases. The Taiwanese were especially pleased when they acquired not four, but five of the long coveted destroyers equipped with the advanced Aegis radar and battle management system when the warehouse held a special, one day only, "buy four, get one free" sale. "Annexationing just seems to be the next bestest step in our strong relations with the Taiwanese people," Bush said in a recent interview on Good Morning America. "I mean, if the island is officially part of America, it will be protectorated, for free, by our most latest and most greatest weapons systems, right out of the factory." As it has consistently done in all of the president's Taiwanese initiatives, the U.S. State Department distanced itself from Bush's annexation push. The longstanding U.S. policy toward toward "one China," whatever it may be, has not changed, insisted Colin Powell, U.S. secretary of state. Administrative advisors made immediate efforts to soften Bush's statements. "The president is simply saying what he believes,'' said Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary. "Right or wrong, it's what he does. It's what he'll always do. We don't expect anyone to take the president's statements as official policy positions.'' The People's Republic of China, however, continues to take a very dim view of Bush's plans for Taiwan. Beijing has no ambiguity in its view of "one China." "There is only one China in the world," declared Zhang Qiyue, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman. "Taiwan is part of China. It cannot and will not become part any foreign country. The Chinese government and people are strongly indignant and opposed to American annexation of our renegade province." "Continuing along this dangerous road will hold dire consequences for the United States," she continued. "Attention, running dog imperialist Kmart shoppers, you will not find Blue Light Specials on Martha Stewart lawn furniture if your president has his way." |
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