DPP officials attempt to contain the fallout

The DPP yesterday sought to downplay President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) call on Saturday for a referendum on the nation's future, saying that Chen's comments had been "over-interpreted" by the media.

"The referendum would be to defend the current status of Taiwan, not to change its current status. Unfortunately, [Chen's comments] were widely misinterpreted as calling for a change to the current status," DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said at a press conference yesterday evening.

Chen told a Tokyo meeting of the World Federation of Taiwanese Associations via satellite video broadcast that there is "one country on either side" (of the Taiwan Strait) and that the nation should seriously consider passing referendum legislation so that a vote on Taiwan's future could be held.

DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) said at the Legislative Yuan yesterday that "President Chen was stating an existing reality. I don't understand why the opposition parties seriously attacked what was just a statement of a political reality.

"Many international media organizations interpreted President Chen's remarks as heading toward a path of independence, but I think they were over-interpreted," he said.

Chen's comments were widely considered his toughest to date on cross-strait affairs.

As to the issue of referendum legislation, Wang cautioned that the matter is highly contentious.

"Referendum legislation is a controversial issue between political parties and its implementation might lead to the unsteadiness of Taiwan's politics. I would remind my colleagues of the risks we would be undertaking if they propose the idea to the Legislative Yuan," Wang said.

Executive Director of the DPP's Policy Research and Coordinating Committee Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) said yesterday that the administration's stance remains unchanged, but that the policy of approaching China to go to the negotiation table is different now.

"Beijing has said that it would separate economic issues from political ones and that it would attempt to discuss insensitive issues before sensitive ones. But it hasn't done anything to implement such ideas over the past two years," Lin said.

"After Beijing's series of provocative actions, it's about time for us to be tough on Beijing. We have to make Beijing understand reality clearly and not to have any unpractical expectations of Taiwan," he said.

Some academics, however, worried Chen might have gone too far this time.

"President Chen created a lot of space for cross-strait relations with his `five no's' policy. The new remarks, however, show his bottom line. What else can Chen say to scare Beijing next time?" said Wu Yu-shan (吳玉山), a professor of political science at National Taiwan University.