China unveils law to snub Taiwan's independence

Taiwan immediately lambasted the legislation, calling it a pretext for attack that "gives the (Chinese) military a blank check to invade Taiwan."

"Our government lodges strong protest against the vicious attempt and brutal means ... to block Taiwanese from making their free choice," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which handles the island's China policy, said in a statement.

Chinese leaders say the law is meant to curb what they claim is an effort by Taiwan's president to make the self-ruled island's independence permanent. The legislation drew strong and immediate protest from Taiwan as an attempt to dominate the island.

The proposed law, read out before China's figurehead parliament by one of the body's leaders, doesn't give details of what developments might trigger an attack on Taiwan. The two sides have been separated since 1949 but Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.

The communist mainland has threatened repeatedly to invade if Taiwan tries to make its independence permanent, and the new law doesn't impose new conditions or make new threats. But it would codify the legal steps required before China would take military action.

"If possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the state shall employ nonpeaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," said Wang Zhaoguo, a leader of the National People's Congress, as he read from the law.

A leading member of Taiwan's parliament called on Chinese leaders not to act rashly, saying they should "rein in the horse before the precipice."