Taipei, Sept. 22 (CNA) China's military threats against Taiwan affect the overall stability and peace of the entire Asia-Pacific region, President Chen Shui-bian said Wednesday.
Receiving a 14-member Canadian parliamentary delegation at the Presidential Office, Chen told his guests that cross-Taiwan Strait stability and peace is crucial to world peace.
Taiwan is a free and democratic nation, which has undergone a miraculous transformation to create a transparent political structure and economy, in contrast to mainland China which remains under totalitarian communist rule, Chen noted.
He cited Chinese President Hu Jintao's remarks made a day earlier after he took over the chairmanship of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission as an example of the party holding absolute power. "This would be unimaginable in a democratic country," the president said.
Both Hu and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, regardless of the transfer of military leadership, have proclaimed that mainland China will not abandon the threat of the use of force against Taiwan, Chen said.
Mainland China has deployed about 650 ballistic missiles on its southeastern coast targeting Taiwan and the number is increasing at a pace of 50 to 75 a year, Chen pointed out, adding that this poses a great threat to peace on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as the whole Asia-Pacific region.
Chen urged the international community to keep a eye on mainland China's increasing military intimidation and threats against Taiwan.
The Canadian delegation, headed by Bill Casey, a senior member of the House of Commons, arrived in Taiwan Sept. 19 for a weeklong visit.