Taiwan warns China against aggression

Taiwan warns China against aggression

TAIWAN: Taiwan's leader warned China against military aggression in the Pacific region as the island created an international organization on Sunday to raise its international profile.

The Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) launched by Taiwan is a non-governmental organization with members from 24 countries, including the United States and Indonesia. Among official guests at the opening ceremony were Guatemala's President Oscar Berger Perdomo and Costa Rica's President Abel Pacheco.

Of the union's members, six have diplomatic ties with Beijing rather than Taipei. Despite the new organization's non- governmental status, lawmakers and officials from 20 of the member countries attended.

Addressing the founding meeting, Taiwan's President Chen Shui- bian called on the union's members to jointly open a new era for peace and freedom and keep pressuring mainland China to practice democracy and contain its military aggression. -- AP