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U.N. bid referendum unrelated to changing country's name: Cabinet

ROC Central News Agency

2007-09-12 15:29:12

    Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) Holding a referendum on bidding to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan has nothing to do with changing the country's official designation, nor does it violate President Chen Shui-bian's "four noes" pledges, a Cabinet spokesman reiterated Wednesday.

    While participation in the international community is the common aspiration of the country's 23 million people, the bid for U.N. membership under the name Taiwan is supported by more than 70 percent of the people, according to Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Chin-jun. "The United States and the international community should respect the voices of the Taiwan people, " Chen Chin-jun said during a news conference held after a weekly Cabinet meeting, which came a day after Washington again expressed its strong opposition to the referendum.

    Speaking at a Taiwan-U.S. defense industry conference held Tuesday in Annapolis in the U.S. state of Maryland, Thomas Christensen, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the "apparent pursuit of name change in the referendum" makes the initiative appear to the United States as a step intended to change the status quo of Taiwan, a move which he called "needlessly provocative."

    Also, Christensen said the referendum would go against President Chen's promise not to pursue a change in Taiwan's official name -- the Republic of China, while reiterating that the United States "does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state."

    On this point, Chen Chin-jun stressed that Taiwan is a sovereign independent state entitled to membership in the United Nations.

    He explained that the country is bidding to use the name Taiwan to join the United Nations because it is infeasible for the country to try to rejoin the United Nations under the name Republic of China, which was expelled from the world body in 1971. "The Republic of China does not exist according to U.N. Resolution 2758 of 1971 which gave the ROC's U.N. seat to the People's Republic of China," he said.

    The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration is pushing for the country's inclusion in the world body under the name Taiwan this year for the first time and is promoting an initiative to hold a referendum on the bid alongside the 2008 presidential election.

    Over the past several months, the United States has on many occasions voiced its opposition to the referendum initiative, but the DPP seems to have no intention of dropping the plan.

(By Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li