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U.S. seriously misunderstands Taiwan's U.N. bid referendum: premier

ROC Central News Agency

2007-09-13 14:27:44

    Taipei, Sept. 13 (CNA) The United States has seriously misunderstood Taiwan's planned referendum on the country's U.N. bid by equating the referendum with an attempt to change the country's official name, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung said Thursday.

    Chang said that the referendum on whether to apply to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan will allow Taiwan's 23 million people to express their opinions on the U.N. bid and that the country has no intention of changing the status quo or its official designation -- the Republic of China.

    According to Chang, the referendum will only deal with the name that the country will use to apply to join the United Nations, which is totally unrelated to changing the nation's official designation which is stipulated in the ROC Constitution.

    Chang pointed out that the country has used different names to join international organizations or take part in international activities, such as the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" in the World Trade Organization and "Chinese Taipei" in the Olympics.

    In what marked the latest statement of U.S. opposition to the referendum, Thomas Christensen, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said Tuesday that the planned referendum worries the United States because it "raises the question of what Taiwan should be called in the international community."

    Christensen said the "apparent pursuit of name change" makes the referendum appear to be a step intended to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, which he called a "needlessly provocative action" that will increase cross-strait tensions.

    Taiwan is bidding to join the world body unde r the name Taiwan this year for the first time and is planning 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 Taiwan seems to have no intention of dropping the plan.

(By Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li