Thousands of Taiwanese Rally to Assert Freedom From China

President Chen Shui-bian on Saturday called on Taiwan to resist China’s bid to annex the island as tens of thousands of people took to the streets protesting Beijing’s growing military threat.

“Our future will never be decided by the 1.3 billion people of China,” Chen told supporters in front of the presidential office building. “Taiwan is an independent sovereign state, and its future should be determined by its 23 million people. Taiwanese people oppose annexation and invasion.”

Protesters on the three-hour march held balloons and waved banners as a flatbed truck hauled a large globe surrounded by red-colored likenesses of missiles bearing the Chinese flag.

The rally, with the slogan, “Protect democracy, oppose annexation,” was held to mark the passage of a controversial law in Beijing last year that threatens to use force if Taiwan declares independence.

In recent weeks Chen’s government has raised the temperature across the Taiwan Strait by announcing plans to dissolve a largely symbolic unification council, a move nonetheless viewed critically by Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

The Bush administration has signaled its displeasure with Chen’s latest move, concerned over the prospect of inflamed tensions across the Taiwan Strait at a time when its military forces are stretched thin by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and its diplomats distracted by Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs.

Beijing, which announced a 14.7% increase in its military budget this month, raising it to $35.3 billion, has more than 700 missiles aimed at Taiwan.

Chen’s Democratic Progressive Party and some television stations estimated that Saturday’s march drew 100,000 people, though some police put it closer to 50,000.

The festive atmosphere often seemed more like a street fair as Taipei mothers pushed baby carriages alongside party loyalists bused in from around the island.

“I am here to show my patriotism,” said 53-year-old Wang, who gave only his surname. He was accompanied by his wife and three daughters. “We have our own country.”

Analysts said Chen could become more provocative in coming months, as he tries to keep his party in power beyond the next presidential election in 2008.

“The China threat issue is a perfect button to push to avoid people looking at his domestic record,” said Wenran Jiang, acting director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta in Canada. “Things could get complicated with this kind of game.”

Chen’s ruling DPP is reeling from a weak showing in local elections late last year and a recent scandal over alleged payoffs involving the use of foreign labor.

On key issues for voters, including the economy and education, Chen’s legacy leaves little for his successor to run on. And the opposition Nationalist Party is gaining momentum under the leadership of Harvard-trained Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou.

Chen hopes Beijing will lose its cool and make a threatening move that will push centrist voters to his party, analysts say.

But this strategy could create ripples well beyond the island. Keeping Taiwan in the fold is a core issue on which Chinese leaders judge their legitimacy, especially at a time when they want stability in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

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Times staff writer Magnier reported from Beijing and special correspondent Tsai from Taipei.