President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday called for the creation of a demilitarized zone and an exchange of envoys with China in a bid to win support for his referendum plan.
The Presidential Office formally sent the president's order to call a referendum to the Executive Yuan yesterday afternoon.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
At a press conference yesterday morning, Chen said that, as the head of state, he has proposed a referendum on matters concerning national security in accordance with Article 17 of the Referendum Law (公民投票法), which was passed last November at the Legislative Yuan.
"To safeguard national sovereignty and defend national security is my solemn duty, as is my commitment to allow the people of Taiwan to be masters of their own land," Chen said.
Chen said China's military threats, including unilaterally denying Taiwan's sovereignty and increasing its deployment of ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan, satisfy the conditions for holding a referendum under Article 17.
He said the referendum, to be held on March 20 alongside the presidential election, will include two questions.
The first, Chen said, deals with strengthening national defense and will ask voters whether the government should acquire anti-missile systems should China refuse to withdraw its missiles.
The second question, Chen said, will ask voters whether they want the government to engage in negotiation with China on the establishment of a "a peace and stability" framework for cross-strait interaction.
Chen elaborated the elements of the framework, proposing "one principle and four major issues."
He said both sides can appoint a special envoy to initiate cross-strait negotiations on the framework after March 20.
According to Chen, the one principle is that both sides should first agree to resolve any dispute by peaceful means, commit to refrain from using force and not unilaterally change the status quo.
The first of Chen's four issues is the establishment of a negotiation mechanism, which includes the appointment of a special envoy under the direct authorization and instruction of the head of state, and that representative offices be established in Taipei and Beijing.
"The second is `exchanges based on equality and reciprocity,' which means establishing liaison offices and the provision of fair trials and legal protection for people of the other side," Chen said.
"[It also means] the mutual recognition of laws and judicial decisions, and provision of judicial assistance."
The third issue, Chen said, is the establishment of a political relationship, which should be based on mutual respect, be conducive to cross-strait interaction, include mutual recognition of jurisdiction and non-interference in each other's diplomatic affairs.
"The fourth, the prevention of military conflicts," he said, "is to establish a demilitarized zone, including removal of combat personnel, equipment and deployed missiles."
Asked by reporters how he can convince Beijing to accept the framework and whether the plan can ease concern in the international community, Chen said he is aware of the difficulty in getting a positive reaction from China, especially given that Beijing has never agreed with Taiwan's democratic movement.
"However, once the 23 million of people of Taiwan have displayed their will through the historic referendum," Chen said, "we believe the international community will ultimately approve of Taiwan's referendum and that Beijing will have to reconsider its stance to cope with Taiwan's collective will."
Chen said he would stick to promises made over the past four years, in particular the "five noes" issued in his inauguration speech.
"The peaceful status quo of the Taiwan Strait will not be changed in the next four years, and the administration will implement all reforms, including the rewriting of the Constitution, on the basis of maintaining the status quo," he said.
"A promise is a promise, there is no such thing as a new or an old one," Chen said. "I will not offer one script in 2000 and then another one in 2004."
Also see story:
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying