I refer to the letter China's 'anti-secession law' severe setback. Allow me to share my opinion as a Malaysian who is concerned with regional security and international peace.

The writer's attempt to paint China as a threat to regional or international security and prosperity is airy-fairy, to say the least. On the contrary, it is Taiwan's secession that would cause regional and international instability because it would serve to embolden other separatist and secessionist movements in the region and other parts of the world including Aceh, Irian Jaya, southern Thailand, southern Philippines, Basque, Quebec, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The incessant struggles for secession in these regions endanger world peace. Intensified struggles for independence will disrupt the international sea lanes, including those in the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea. The chaos or the loosening of the security structure that will ensue will also breed piracy and terrorism in our Southeast Asian region.

The so-called anti-secession law does not compel Taiwan to reunite with the mainland immediately. It merely authorises the use of force as a last resort to preserve China's territorial integrity. Short of explicitly declaring independence, Taiwan can still exist in peace and prosperity under the present status quo.

There is really no need for Taiwan to exaggerate the so-called 'China threat' to the region and to the world to endear itself to anti-China right-wingers in the US and Japan who are always looking for external enemies to justify their ever-increasing defence expenditure and ever- expanding military-industrial complexes.