Taiwan "president" Chen Shui-bian is notorious for his double-dealing and he again proved his nature as a man without credit on Saturday.

The leader advocated the establishment of a "national sovereignty consciousness" on the island despite his earlier pledges not to touch on sensitive "sovereignty, territory or independence issues" during "constitutional" reforms.

Chen told a forum that "an illusory and ossifying 'Greater China ideology"' had severely confused Taiwan's "national status and identity" for five decades. He stressed that the "sovereignty consciousness" should be gradually shaped during a second phase of "constitutional" reform to replace the "Greater China consciousness."

"It will be impossible for Taiwan to become a normal country enjoying independent sovereignty, freedom and democracy unless it frees itself from this unrealistic political dogma," Chen said.

The leader's overture exposed his obstinate desire for "Taiwan independence" and his old trick of taking one step back and two steps forward.

After fooling the international community and the Taiwanese public with his promise that "constitutional" changes would not touch on "sovereignty" issues for some time, it seems he has finally decided to take a bold step along the secessionist path.

Chen has actually been forging ahead with two parallel strategies to separate Taiwan from China since taking office in May 2000.

On the one hand, he and his ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration have been bent on a de-Sinofication policy to deny the fact that Taiwan is part of China.

This is why Chen has refused to recognize himself as Chinese while introducing a number of measures to sever cultural and historical links between the island and the motherland.

With an outdated mentality, Chen's renewed call for the abandonment of the "Greater China consciousness" on Saturday was nothing but a further attempt to ideologically alienate Taiwan from the motherland.

The move, however, also showed the difficulty Chen and his administration face in stopping Taiwanese people identifying with the Chinese nation as well as the trend of closer relations between Taiwan and the mainland.

Another of Chen's secessionist goals has been to pursue de jure "independence," in a bid to legally change the fact that Taiwan is part of China.

To achieve this end, he has preached "one country at each side (of the Straits)" since August 2002. He claims that "the Republic of China is an independent, sovereign state, its sovereignty belongs to all people in Taiwan and only the 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to determine its future."

And the on-going "constitutional re-engineering project" is merely aimed at backing up his secessionist moves with so-called "legality." By calling for "sovereignty consciousness," Chen has hinted that he may focus on fostering a "national identity" for the island during the next round of "constitutional" reform.

Taiwan, as part of China, has never existed as a sovereign country, and will not in the future.

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are yet to be reunified, the fact that Taiwan is part of China and that both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China remains unchanged. This is the cross-Straits status quo.

That means both the mainland and Taiwan belong to the 1.3 billion Chinese people. So any issue involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be decided collectively by the entire 1.3 billion Chinese people.

The Chinese Government has made it clear that the State shall never allow "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from China under any name or by any means.

Any desperate move by Chen to unilaterally change the cross-Straits status quo could jeopardize peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the Asia-Pacific region at large.

Source: China Daily