Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian pledged Thursday not to declare independence from China if re-elected next month, in an attempt to ease international concerns over his leadership.
Chen, who faces a tough battle to retain his job at polls on March 20, said he already considered Taiwan independent but would stick to the promise he made when he secured an historic election victory in 2000 not to declare a permanent split from China, a move that Beijing has promised would lead to war.
Chen, leader of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, said many people had doubted he would keep to his pledges, which included not changing the official name of the island from the Republic of China and promoting a referendum to change the status quo with China.
"It's unlikely that I will say one thing in 2000 and a different thing in 2004," he said in an interview with UFO radio.
"Declaring independence is not an issue because we are already an independent country."
Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after they were defeated by the communists in the civil war on the mainland. Since then Taiwan has maintained a separate government and became the first genuine Chinese democracy.
China, however, sees Taiwan as part of Chinese territory, waiting to be reunified by force if necessary.
The opposition immediately dismissed Chen's claim. KMT spokesman Tsai Cheng-yuan said: "I believe that except his staunch supporters, nobody would believe him any more.
"What he said was simply aimed to cheat those voters who are yet to decide."
Chen's promise comes amid growing tensions between Taiwan and China as he has stepped up his rhetoric ahead of the presidential vote.
Lagging badly in opinion polls, Chen has closed the gap on his rival Lien Chan, chairman of the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT), after he called for a referendum on the same day as the presidential vote seeking views on whether to bolster Taiwan's defences against China and to promote peace talks between the two sides.
However, his stance infuriated Beijing and has drawn harsh criticism from the international community, including the United States, France and Germany for threatening the status quo.
Chen defended the referendum plan saying it would address Washington's worries that the island was not doing enough to protect itself.
He said the referendum sought to expand the country's anti-missile defences even after buying three Patriot anti-missile systems from the US.
The long-awaited deal, promised by US President George W. Bush in 2000, would be covered in a 500 billion Taiwan dollar (15.11 billion US dollar) budget package yet to be finalised by the defence ministry.
Chen also sought to alleviate concerns about reforming the island's complicated constitution, saying he only wanted to streamline the workings of government.
He had previously said he would call a referendum over a new constitution in 2006, but critics claimed that move would loosen the island's few remaining ties with China.
Chen softened his pro-independence stance in the run-up to his 2000 presidential election victory, which ended 51 years of one-party KMT rule on the island.
However, his increasingly robust stance towards his cross-strait rival has prompted fears in Beijing that he is stepping up a campaign that could eventually lead to a move towards formal independence.
Chen has denied that he is seeking independence by stealth and instead claimed that he is merely seeking protection from an aggressive China that he says has nearly 500 missiles targeting the island.
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