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President `cannot resist' referendum on U.N. bid

ROC Central News Agency

2007-12-07 19:44:41

    Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian claimed Friday that the nation's planned referendum to apply to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan is a movement from the grassroots and that he cannot buck the trend.

    Chen said that 100,000 people initiated the referendum proposal and that a petition to that effect has since collected 2.72 million signatures, which he described as different from a "defensive referendum" he initiated in 2004. "The president will not be able to resist, deny or overturn the will of the people," Chen said.

    He also said that the "U.N. bid referendum will not be retracted or changed," adding that he is confident that it will be passed.

    Chen was responding to a U.S. official's remarks a day earlier that reiterated U.S. opposition to Taiwan's planned referendum.

    Thomas Christensen, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, called the ruling Democratic Progressive Party-initiated referendum "unwise." He also said the referendum is not only dangerous and provocative but will also scare away potential friends who might help Taiwan, including the United States.

    Chen said he "appreciates" U.S. concern about the planned referendum, which will be held alongside the March 22 presidential election.

    Addressing concern in the international community about what "comes next after the referendum," he said that it should not worry. "We only want to express to the world the will of the people of joining the United Nations under the name Taiwan. We hope the world will hear the voice of the Taiwan people," he said.

    On widespread international opinion that the U.N. bid might change the status quo, Chen said the status quo is that Taiwan is a sovereign state and that its sovereignty lies with the people.

    Taiwan is not part of China or one of its provinces, and the fact is now more clear to the international community, Chen said.

(By Lilian Wu)

ENDITEM/J