nick’s (n)-line life

Taiwan’s National Assembly has Today announced constitutional reforms that, commentators say, will take it closer to becoming an independent state. The new legislation halves the size of the legislature and requires referenda to be held on certain contentious issues.

The move has drawn fierce criticism from Beijing which fears that the legislation will lead to a vote on independence. President Chen’s reforms have also been attacked by the opposition party.

This is despite China’s enactment of an anti-succession law in March 2005 which itself led to protests in Taiwan and tight-lipped commentary from the Taiwanese press.

However, the reforms are less contentions that it seems as they 50% of the entire electorate to turn out and vote in favour (rather than a simple majority or 50% of those voting). If it was me, this would be a great point to slip a few controversial measures into the constitution, while the attention is focused on the reform’s potential for cross straits conflict.

For months commentators have been predicting that a cross-straits war may not be far away and today’s news may bring that a step closer, or it may just be another round of bravado by the fierce little Island.