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U.N. bid referendum will not change status-quo: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

2007-08-28 20:04:55

    Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on its U.N. cause is only a way of responding to public opinion and has nothing to do with changing the country's official title or changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Wang Chien-yeh said Tuesday.

    Wang made the remarks after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said in an exclusive interview, which was aired a day earlier on Hong Kong-based Phoenix Star TV, that the United States opposes Taiwan's holding such a referendum. "We oppose the notion of that kind of a referendum because we see that as a step towards the declaration -- towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan, towards an alteration of the status quo, " Negroponte said.

    Stating that the government understands why the United States is concerned about Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on its U.N. bid, Wang expressed the hope that the United States could better understand the situation in Taiwan and said that MOFA will continue seeking to exchange views and step up communication with the United States on the referendum issue. "Taiwan's U.N. bid referendum plan is not a provocative move and does not target any particular side, " Wang said, arguing that "it is only a method to allow the people to directly vote on the country's participation in the United Nations."

(By Flor Wang)

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