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Unexpectedly, he was allowed to transit in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.

Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al- Nahyan, head of trading and economic affairs for the UAE, went aboard Chen's plane yesterday afternoon at the airport to greet the president.

Shortly after checking in at the luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel, Chen was immediately invited to visit Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al- Nahyan Mosque and was later treated to a grand feast by Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

A commercial office of the Republic of China (ROC) has been located in Dubai for years. But according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen, a member of Chen's delegation, the office might soon be moved to Abu Dhabi in a bid to further strengthen both economical and political bilateral relations .

The UAE claims to have nearly 100 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, or about 10 percent of total proven world oil reserves.

"However, with fear of dwindling oil supplies, the government has appealed to foreign businessmen investing here to improve its tourism industry," Chen said.

In addition, Chen said that the UAE has expressed interest in launching a joint venture with Taiwan in the oil industry.

Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh said that a company called Kuo Kuang Technology Co, which has investment from the Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) and other private companies, will soon launch a project involving oil refining and other petrochemical manufacturing in the UAE.

"Getting as close as we can to sources of crude oil is an efficient way to lower costs," Ho said.

However, Ho said that whether Taiwan would get involved with oil exploration remains uncertain.

According to Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳), Chen's transit in UAE was a breakthrough.

"Taiwan is in a diplomatic plight. That's why we cannot let any chance pass for us to broaden our international space." Huang said.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines was the final leg of Chen's five-nation, 13-day diplomatic tour to Central America and the Caribbean which also took him to Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Chen and his entourage also made a stopover in Miami, Florida en route to Guatemala. Chen's arrival home will be postponed from today to tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in related news, National security sources said that Vice Minister of National Defense Hou Shou-yeh left a legislative interpellation session early on Wednesday because he had to lead a delegation to the UAE that afternoon to promote military diplomacy and exchanges.

Hou attended the session on Wednesday to report on the Ministry of National Defense's proposed budget for the purchase of eight US submarines.

His assistant told Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung, who was the session chairman that Hou had to be excused around 10:30am to "attend a meeting."

The UAE has reportedly always been friendly to Taiwan, despite lack of official ties.

Abu Dhabi is said to be particularly interested in buying Taiwan-made small arms.

National security officials said that it is too early to carry out actual military exchanges with the UAE at present. However, thanks to the good reputation of Taiwan-produced T-91 battle rifles and other small arms being used in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi is especially enthusiastic about talks with Hou over the purchase of such small arms.

Many countries are currently using small arms manufactured in Taiwan because of the excellent quality of such weapons. A special characteristic of these weapons is that none of them identifies their manufacturing country.

Koizumi shrine visits ruled unconstitutional

PUBLIC ACT: The Osaka High Court found for the Taiwanese plaintiffs, but rejected their claims for compensation. Legislator May Chin said the ruling was a step forward

AP , TOKYO

A Japanese court yesterday ruled that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi violated the Constitution's rules on religion by going to a Tokyo war shrine that critics say glorifies Japan's militarist past. However, the Osaka High Court rejected the Taiwanese plaintiffs' claims to be compensated over the visits.

The panel said that Koizumi's worshipping at the Yasukuni shrine is a public act and therefore violates the constitutional separation of state and religion, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling had the force to prevent further visits, but plaintiffs and their supporters called the decision a watershed.

It was the second time in 18 months a court has ruled such visits unconstitutional.

"This is groundbreaking, a landmark ruling," plaintiffs' lawyer Mitsunori Nakajima said from Osaka. "Most important was the recognition that Koizumi's visits were clearly carried out in a public capacity."

Independent Legislator May Chin, left, and her supporters stamp on placards denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine, in front of the Osaka High Court yesterday. The court ruled that Koizumi's visits to the shrine violated Japan's Constitution.

"I don't understand why my visits to Yasukuni violate the Constitution," Koizumi said at a parliamentary session following the ruling. "I'm paying my respects to those who died in the war, with the conviction that we must never wage such a war again."

"I visit Yasukuni as a private citizen, and as prime minister, but not in a public capacity," he said.

The court rejected compensation demands of ¥10,000 (US$88) by each of the 188 plaintiffs, who included Independent Legislator May Chin and bereaved families of World War II veterans from Taiwan, many of them enshrined at Yasukuni against the families' wishes, according to court spokesman Masaharu Otani.

"We're not satisfied with today's ruling, though it did take one little step forward," Chin said. "We urge the Japanese government to take three or four steps forward," she said.

"The ruling suggested Japan has started to face the fact that emergence of militarism would endanger the humanity," she said in a statement.

"It is regrettable, however," she continued, that, "Japan has yet to face up to its past `monstrous crimes' which it had committed against Taiwan's Aborigines."

It was the second ruling on a lawsuit concerning the shrine in as many days. On Thursday, the Tokyo High Court turned down a similar case and declared Koizumi's visits were private, but it did not rule on the constitutionality of worshipping at Yasukuni.

Koizumi has gone to the shrine four times since becoming prime minister in April 2001.

"These visits go against Article 20 of the Japanese Constitution, which calls for the separation of the state and religion," the ruling read, according to Nakajima.

The court noted that Koizumi visited the shrine with a government secretary and used a state car, and also criticized him for not clearly denying he was on an official visit.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) controlled legislature has blocked the arms procurement bill 30 times and stopped Taiwan from improving its national defense. This has led to a growing military imbalance between China and Taiwan. Now the pan-blue camp plans to use its legislative majority to force through a bill promoting cross-strait peace. Passing the PFP version of this bill would bring political chaos as well as major changes in security. It could place Taiwan in a dangerous situation; the legislature must not pass it.

Although this short bill only has 14 articles, it could cause massive harm to Taiwan. There are five reasons why we oppose it. First, it advocates making the "five noes" and the "1992 consensus" its premises. Although the five noes were proposed by President Chen Shui-bian in his inaugural speech, one cannot leave out the fact that they are based on China's ending its military threat against Taiwan. That premise has never existed, so bringing up the five noes only blurs the focus. The term "1992 consensus" was created by KMT officials, and has never existed. The 1992 meeting in Hong Kong had a "1992 spirit," which was to put aside disagreements and focus on practical problem-solving.

Second, confirming the "one China principle" and the "1992 consensus" by passing the cross-strait peace promotion bill tells the world that Taiwan is part of China, and is responding to Beijing's "Anti-Secession" Law. This would deprive Taiwan of strategic advantages when negotiating with China and give Beijing grounds for annexing the nation. Such a defeatist bill strengthens China and weakens Taiwan.

Third, it stipulates that the legislature establish a cross-strait peace committee in proportion to the legislative seats each party holds in the legislature, and that the committee signs a cross-strait peace accord, a direct links agreement, an agreement protecting the benefits of Taiwanese businesspeople in China, and creates cross-strait non-military and free trade zones.

Such an organization would infringe on the rights of the president to sign treaties and the rights of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) to negotiate with China. Such a committee would infringe on the constitutional duties and rights of the president, and it would allow the legislative branch to intervene in the operations of the executive branch. That would blur the separation between the two branches and lead to constitutional controversies.

Fourth, according to a survey released by the MAC on Sept. 9, 85 percent of respondents prefer to maintain the status quo, while 88 percent want the government to establish a framework for peaceful cross-strait exchanges. Although the legislature has the legislative power, mainstream public opinion opposes such a bill. If the pan-blue camp forces its passage, they will go against the will of the general public.

Fifth, China's "Anti-Secession" Law stresses that Beijing does not forego "non-peaceful means and other necessary measures" if Taiwan "moves toward" independence. But the pan-blue camp has ignored such constant legal and military threats, and repeatedly blocked the arms procurement plan, pushing for the draft bill to promote cross-strait peace. It's sending out the wrong message, leading the US to doubt Taiwan's determination to defend itself, and the international community to believe that Taiwan isn't under military threat from China. It weakens psychological and national defenses, while increasing the cross-strait military imbalance.

The slightest change in cross-strait policy affects the overall situation. Such changes must therefore conform to mainstream opinion, constitutional law, the current political situation and command a consensus between government and opposition parties. The cross-strait peace promotion bill does not meet any of these conditions. If the pan-blue camp insists on forcing its passage, it may become a war-promoting bill that might instead cause a domestic political battle or even a cross-strait war.

In response to the conflict, most people seem unaware of why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) insisted on blocking the draft bills for establishing a national communications commission (NCC) and promoting cross-strait peace -- both proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP).

Since I was there that day, I have to stress that the KMT-PFP camp actually tied the NCC bill and the peace bill together.

The pan-blue camp is using the NCC bill so that it can challenge the central government and shift power from it to the pan-blue camp's legislative majority.

If the bill is passed, the legislature would expand its power while the executive branch would be at risk of collapsing.

This is a dangerous bill that would allow the legislature to usurp executive power.

The PFP-backed cross-strait peace promotion bill allows the legislature to sign agreements with China establishing systems for military mutual trust and free-trade zones without the president's authorization.

This is a clear violation of the president's right as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Nevertheless, a much greater crisis is the peace bill that is tied to the NCC bill.

Under this bill, a special cross-strait negotiation commission would be established to in order to carry out cross-strait talks without presidential authorization.

Also, the bill specifies that once the commission's decisions and proposals are passed by the legislature, they are binding on all government agencies.

Those who refuse to implement such decisions and proposals will be investigated and punished by the judiciary.

Additionally, the bill rules that the commission members are appointed according to the percentage of legislative seats each political party holds, and that the president must officially appoint the members within five days after having received a nomination list from the legislature.

If the president fails to do so in a timely manner, the appointments will be validated by default, and the committee shall deliver a special report to the legislature on this.

Judging from the regulations for appointment in this bill, it is yet another March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute, transferring the president's executive rights to the legislative branch.

One bill tries to challenge the executive rights of the DPP-led government, and the other tries to replace the president as the nation's highest leader.

Think about it: If they really take advantage of their legislative majority to force through legislation that would make them a "shadow cabinet," their grab for power will severely damage Taiwan's governmental system, split the nation and lead to domestic disorder.

It is vitally important that we protect the nation from domestic chaos that is created by the pan-blue camp's misconduct.

It is hoped that the public will firmly support us so that we can say "no" to the KMT, the PFP, and legislative chaos.