For the first time in more than three years, China has openly threatened to attack Taiwan, warning President Chen Shui-bian to curb recent moves it said were intended to bring Taiwan closer to formal independence. “If the Taiwan authorities collude with all splittist forces to openly engage in pro-independence activities and challenge the mainland and the ‘one China’ principle, the use of force may become unavoidable,” said Maj. Gen. Wang Zaixi, deputy director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, at a conference last Thursday. His remarks were reported in state-run media Wednesday. The principle holds that there is only one China, and the governments in Taipei and Beijing have both claimed to be the true representative of it. On the basis of this “agreement to disagree,” investment and trade flourished, and officials on both sides spoke with confidence that they could evolve toward unification or some other political settlement. Full Story