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PRESIDENT VOWS TO PRESS AHEAD WITH REFERENDUM ON U.N. BID

ROC Central News Agency

2007-07-08 23:47:12

    Taipei, July 8 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian has said in an interview with a U.S. newspaper that democracy is Taiwan's most important asset and that referendum could be its best and most effective "theater missile defense" system to fight against China's despotic communist system.

    The prestigious Washington Post published the interview with Chen in its Sunday issue's international news page.

    Chen reaffirmed in the interview that his administration will press ahead with its initiative to hold a referendum on the application to join the United Nations under the name "Taiwan" alongside with the 2008 presidential election.

    According to Chen, the U.N. referendum initiative has received the support of both ruling and opposition parties and the results of public opinion surveys show that 71 percent of respondents have thrown weight behind the proposal.

    Against this backdrop, Chen said cancellation of the referendum proposal would hobble the 23 million Taiwan people's rights to express their opinions on an issue of public concern and to guide the government in its policy planning with regard to the issue.

    Stressing that his administration is going in a correct direction, Chen said his administration will continue going down the path.

    He also told the Washington Post that the Bush administration officials need not overreact to Taiwan's referendum plan because applying to join the U.N. in the name of Taiwan will not change Taiwan's official national title -- the Republic of China.

    Insisting that the move doesn't violate his "four noes" promise to the Bush administration, Chen argued that the move should not be regarded as a provocation to China or a move to change the status quo that could lead to a cross-Taiwan Strait crisis.

    The "four noes" promise refers to a pledge outlined in Chen's 2000 inaugural speech that said so long as China has no intention to use force against Taiwan, he will not declare Taiwan independence, will not change Taiwan's national title or national flag, will not enshrine the "two state theory" in the Constitution in characterizing cross-strait ties and will not hold an "independence vs. unification" referendum on Taiwan's future.

    In the interview, Chen said he treasures Taiwan's longstanding friendship with the United States and has taken serious the advice offered by U.S. authorities with regard to the referendum plan and cross-strait relations.

    As the U.S. State Department issued a statement in June opposing Chen's U.N. referendum proposal on the grounds that the move could spark unnecessary cross-strait tension while yielding little held for Taiwan's U.N. status, Chen said his administration will continue communications with U.S. authorities over the issue.

    Chen further said that even Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) dares not explicitly oppose the proposal to hold such a referendum because applying to join the U.N. as "Taiwan" is a mainstream opinion in local society.

    While the KMT opposed and boycotted his administration's 2004 referendum initiative, Chen said, the KMT itself has come up with many proposals to be put to referendum alongside with the 2008 presidential election, including a proposal to apply to re-join the U.N. in a pragmatic manner.

(By Sofia Wu)

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