China blasts Chen's 'disastrous' call

Chen's comments were likened to 'playing with fire' by analysts

(CNN) -- China has blasted a statement from Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian calling for a referendum on independence, saying it would 'bring Taiwan into disaster."

The statement said a comment Saturday by Chen that the island should change its laws to allow a possible reference on its political future was a "serious incident to split China," The Associated Press reports.

The statement from the State Councli Taiwan Affairs Office did not mention a military response beyond a standard warning.

Chen's comments, China says, "expose his support of independence," and suggest he is working for his own political interests, and not those of Taiwan, the Beijing statement said.

"It will affect the economy of Taiwan, harm the fundamental interests of Taiwan residents and bring Taiwan into disaster," it said.

Beijing earlier initiated a psychological warfare in response to Chen's statement that Taiwan might hold a referendum to determine its future.

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State media and the pro-Chinese press in Hong Kong have run stories of large-scale war games going on along the mainland's southeast coast.

Chen also said last Saturday that both sides of the Taiwan Strait were "each a [sovereign] country."

"Both the mainland and Taiwan are part of China. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of China can't be separated," said the statement read at a news conference by Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office.

Chinese sources familiar with Beijing's Taiwan policy said senior cadres, including members of the party Central Committee's Leading Group on Taiwan Affairs (LGTA), which is headed by President Jiang Zemin, were still assessing their response.

The LGTA, has, however, ordered that as a first measure a psychological warfare be launched against Chen and other pro-independence elements in Taiwan.

In its Monday edition, the Chinese-run Hong Kong paper, Wen Wei Po, reported that about 100,000 troops from different People's Liberation Army divisions were holding war games in the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang.

The paper quoted military officers as saying "the strategic goal [of the maneuvers] is the island of Taiwan" and that the troops were practicing the invasion of islands.

Five out of China's seven military regions, including the Shenyang Military Region in the northeast, were involved.

U.S. visit

On Sunday, CNS also ran pictures of officers from the Shenyang region taking part in naval exercises to take over beaches and islands.

Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said top Chinese leaders would likely issue a formal response through the cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office later this week.

Meanwhile, Taiwan media reported on Monday that Taipei would send Tsai Ing-wen, Chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council, to the U.S. to explain President Chen's latest mainland policies to the U.S. government.

The United Daily News said Tsai would tell Americans that Chen's remarks did not signal a change in the island's policy towards China.

She is expected to travel to the U.S. with Premier Yu Shyi-kun, who was scheduled to leave for New York on Monday on a previously scheduled Latin American trip.

The U.S. Government said on Sunday that Washington's long-standing "one-China" policy had not changed.

"Our policy with respect to China is well-known and long-standing and has not changed," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said.

-- CNN Senior China Analyst Willy Wo-Lap Lam contributed to this report