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U.N. bid referendum will not change status quo: president

ROC Central News Agency

2007-08-30 11:48:07

    Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian has reiterated that Taiwan's planned referendum on its U.N. membership bid will not change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

    The president made the remarks upon his arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport late Wednesday after concluding a nine-day trip to Central America, which included transit stops in the U.S. state of Alaska.

    According to Chen, the referendum issue was raised during his meeting with U.S. representatives during the transit stops, and he told them that Taiwan is already a sovereign country and has no need to declare independence.

    Chen said with the status quo being that there is "one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait," the referendum on whether to use the name Taiwan to join the United Nations will not cause any changes to the situation.

    Instead, the referendum will help safeguard the cross-strait status quo and prevent China from changing it unilaterally, he said.

    Reiterating that the holding of referendums is a basic human right and a way of deepening Taiwan's democracy, Chen said the right of Taiwan's 23 million people should not be restricted or denied just because of China's opposition and suppression.

    The country's efforts to gain membership in international organizations such as the United Nations and World Health Organization under the name Taiwan are aimed at upholding the rights of the people and have nothing to do with changing the country's official name, the president said.

    The U.S. government, which does not support membership for Taiwan in international organizations that require statehood, has expressed its opposition to the U.N. bid referendum on the grounds that it would increase tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

    In the latest such statement, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said during an interview on Hong Kong-based Phoenix Star TV Monday that the United States is opposed to the referendum because Washington sees it as a step "towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan" and "towards an alteration of the status quo."

(By Y.F.Low)

ENDITEM/Li