At first we were tempted to write off those standing against the government's representatives in the referendum debates as the shameless has-beens and opportunists that most of them are. But then we should probably be glad someone is going to do this. After all, the pan-blue camp never tells the truth about its opposition to the referendum, namely that it is motivated by deference to Beijing's wishes. Rather it seeks to portray the referendum as illegal, which it quite obviously is not, or else the pan-blues would have mounted a legal challenge to it already; or simply pointless, asking questions about which there could be no disagreement. It's true that the questions are a little bland, though the fault for that lies with Washington, where the questions were all but drafted, rather than the government here. But if the pan-blue criticism of the seriousness of the questions is to be refuted, the best way to achieve that is to see a lively debate about them.

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By Peter Wang 王獻極
On Sept. 6 last year, more than 150,000 people converged in front of the Presidential Office under the blazing sun to take part in a demonstration calling for a change to Taiwan's official name. This massive march was organized by the Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan, under the leadership of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).

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By Cho Hui-wan 卓慧菀
The referendum issue has entered yet another phase. The government has rewritten the referendum questions -- from the original demand for China to withdraw its missiles deployed along its coastal areas -- to whether Taiwan should purchase more advanced anti-missile weapons, and establish a cross-strait confidence-building mechanism.

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As North Korea prepares to sit down for nuclear talks, the future of the hermit kingdom hangs in the balance
By Yuan Jing-dong
The much-awaited second round of six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue is finally scheduled to take place on Wednesday. There is much hope that the meeting could result in the beginning of a solution to the 16-month impasse. However, there are also worries that no agreement will be reached, leaving Pyongyang and Washington with few options left.

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Bitter transatlantic divisions over the safety of genetically modified (GM) foods may soon be smoothed over, but the gradual enforcement of a global treaty on importing GM products may throw up new barriers to future trade.

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Reports of Beijing's involvement in nuclear programs in other countries have highlighted Chinese proliferation -- but a change of heart was already under way
By John Ruwitch
China's murky role as an arms salesman has entered US crosshairs, but defense analysts say Beijing's shift toward a more responsible policy on the spread of weapons of mass destruction will limit any damage.

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Get out and vote DPP

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