Lien criticized Chen in a separate interview Friday, saying that "this is no time for our government to provoke the Chinese communists on the mainland and create a situation of tension that will endanger the 23 million people on this island."
Advocates of independence have for years pressed for referendums as a way to bypass constitutional barriers to legal independence. After months of discussion this autumn, the legislature passed a bill mostly written by the KMT that severely limited the ability of the president to call a referendum except when the country is "facing an external threat which may jeopardize national sovereignty."
Chen said that the missiles, which were also protested in rallies across Taiwan last year, posed just such a threat. Lien said that his party disagreed and had been surprised that Chen was moving so swiftly to make use of the clause, which the KMT had only supported in the legislature as a last resort in a genuine crisis.
"We have a sense of betrayal," Lien said.
Chen asserted that personal ambition was not a factor in his decision.
"I'm already a president and it doesn't make a big difference to me whether I serve for one term or two terms," he said. "A referendum represents a concept and belief that I have pursued throughout my more-than-20-year political career. It is a universal value and a basic human right."
Additional reporrting by Lin Chieh-yu
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