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DEFENSE MINISTRY DENIES REPORT THAT MILITARY LEADERS OPPOSE REFERENDUM

2003-12-14 17:07:34

    Taipei, Dec. 14 (CNA) The Ministry of National Defense denied Sunday that leaders of the armed forces did not support President Chen Shui-bian's call for a referendum on Beijing's military threat against Taiwan.

    In a response to a report in Sunday's United Daily News that said 22 of 24 generals interviewed by two correspondents of the paper had said that they disapproved of the referendum proposal, a defense ministry spokesman said the report was untrue.

    Gen. Chen Bang-chih, the chief of the Political Warfare Bureau under the defence ministry, said at a news conference Sunday morning that he personally contacted all active generals except for one who was overseas after the report hit the stands and found they all denied having given any interviews to the media regarding the referendum.

    The chief of staff of the general who is out of the country confirmed that no media had approached his boss over the referendum, Gen. Chen said.

    The ministry also checked with all lieutenant generals and major generals this morning and was sure none of them has ever talked to any media over the referendum, Gen. Chen added.

    Without mentioning any media by name, Gen. Chen said the report was not credible, far from the facts and groundless.

    The spokesman said the defense ministry has ordered military personnel to steer clear of politics and remain neutral in the campaigning for the upcoming presidential election.

    The United Daily News said Sunday that its correspondents interviewed two generals, 12 lieutenant generals and 10 major generals. Twenty-two of them said that they did not support the referendum called by President Chen. Two opted to keep their own counsel.

    The story, bylined by two reporters, also said 20 of the interviewees said "yes" when asked whether the referendum will heighten tensions across the Taiwan Strait, two said "no, " and two refused to comment.

    Sixteen of the 24 interviewed said they worried that the longstanding confrontation between Taiwan and the mainland might accelerate into conflict because of the referendum, four said Beijing might up the military ante to a semi-military operation, such as approaching the midline of the Taiwan Strait irregularly with fleets of jet fighters or spying on Taiwan's eastern coastline with its submarines.

    The article said the generals covered by the survey come from all three branches of the military and 70 percent of them are commanders of combat units, exercising considerable influence on the ministry's policy-making, although they count for only 6 percent of the 400-odd military generals.

    As being ordered to keep out of politics, the newspaper said all of the interviewed generals said that they could give their opinions only if they remained unnamed in the report.

    President Chen is calling for a referendum asking the people of Taiwan if Beijing should remove the nearly 500 ballistic missiles targeting the island. The move has been criticized by Chen's political rivals at home as a campaign trick and has raised eyebrows in Beijing, which is concerned that such a vote would be tantamount to taking a step closer to declaring independence for Taiwan.

(By Maubo Chang)

ENDITEM/mw