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TAIWAN WILL COMMUNICATE WITH U.S., JAPAN OVER REFERENDUM: OFFICIAL

2003-12-30 23:17:07

    Taipei, Dec. 30 (CNA) Taiwan has no intention of changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait through its "defensive referendum" and will continue to communicate with the United States and Japan over the issue, Executive Yuan spokesman Lin Chia-lung said Tuesday.

    One day after Japan expressed concern over the country's proposal to hold a national referendum and Taiwan's chief diplomat to Washington warned that the referendum has plunged Taipei-Washington ties into an unprecedented situation, Lin reiterated the Executive Yuan's claims that the proposed referendum has nothing to do with Taiwan independence but that Beijing has misled the international community into believing the opposite.

    The Executive Yuan will continue trying to convince Tokyo and Washington of Taiwan's real intention, Lin said.

    The threat posed by mainland China to Taiwan is of equal magnitude to the threat posed by North Korea to Japan, Lin said, and questioned whether Japan's elected officials would not rally behind their government if North Korea had aimed 400-odd missiles at their country.

    Protecting its national interests is a common value among democracies and the differences in perception among neighboring states can be sorted out through communication, Lin said.

    The spokesman said he does not believe the United States and Japan will sacrifice Taiwan in exchange for mainland China's cooperation in maintaining stability on the Korean peninsula.

(By Maubo Chang)

ENDITEM/J