President Chen Shui-bian yesterday urged countries to review the "one China" policy, which he said was at odds with the real cross-strait situation.

Chen said yesterday the current cross-strait situation is that Taiwan is an independent and sovereign country which is not part of the People's Republic of China.

He said the "one China" policy does not reflect the true situation and urged the world to give Taiwan the assistance it needs by correcting the "one China" policy.

Chen made the comments yesterday while meeting members of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group led by Member of Parliament Lord Richard Faulkner.

The president also took the opportunity to elaborate on his New Year address during which he said Taiwan's cross-strait economic policy would be changed to promote "active management, effective opening."

The government's failure to effectively manage exchanges would result in a change of Taiwan's status quo, he said.

"Taiwan's economy will lean further toward China if the government fails to manage it effectively," Chen said. "Should [Taiwan's] economy further tilt toward China, it will result in a change of the status quo."

"Without active management, there will be no effective opening and [I would] rather there be no opening if there is no active management. This is the crux of what I said: active management, or there will be no effective opening," he said.

Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu yesterday urged the general public to recognize the three core values of national, economic and social security that the president highlighted in his New Year address.

Lu, the acting chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), made the remarks yesterday when having lunch with the chiefs of the DPP's local branches.

Each participant was given a copy of Chen's speech and Lu urged them to fully understand what the president's speech was about.

"Others might deliberately have misinterpreted the speech, but you guys shouldn't. National security, economic security and social safety are the core values behind the president's idea of `active management, effective opening,'" Lu said, stressing that the party's local chiefs are responsible for conveying accurate and complete information to DPP supporters around the nation.

"The criticism from other parties is one of the prices we have to pay in a democratic society. However, I am disappointed that core values such as the country's security and safety have been deliberatively overlooked," she said.

"It's a pity that the general public remains unaware of the importance of passing the military procurement budget proposal, even as Taiwan's national security is being threatened," Lu said, stressing that it is important for the Taiwanese people to be prepared for danger in times of peace and not underestimate China's ambition to annex Taiwan.

Source: Taiwan Security Research