Meanwhile, at a press conference on Monday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he was in favor of Taiwan's referendum on UN membership, but remained evasive about whether he would support the application.
Ortega said since a referendum was a Taiwanese internal affair, he would respect the decision of Taiwanese on whether to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."
However, he said he would not make his position on the issue known until after the referendum was held.
`OPEN WARNING'
In Taipei, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Chi (
"Through giving an interview with Phoenix TV, it's clear that the US wanted to make a direct appeal to the public against the DPP's UN referendum bid," Su said.
He said Negroponte had given a "serious" warning to Taiwan, adding that he worried that "a more serious reaction" might be the US' next step.
Su also warned that China could take action against Taiwan if the US failed to put a stop to the DPP's UN bid.
LOSS OF CONFIDENCE
People First Party Legislator Daniel Hwang (黃義交) urged the president to drop his UN referendum bid "because Negroponte's interview showed that even the US, a long-term friend of Taiwan, had lost its confidence in him."
The US must have felt deeply "frustrated" by Chen, who always put political concerns ahead of the country, so much so that Negroponte had to give the interview, Hwang said.
Saying that she was not surprised to learn of the US' response because the US has its own national interests, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Yeh Yi-chin (
Although Taiwan's application for UN membership may be denied because of China's interference,Taiwan still needs a referendum to express the will of its people, she said.
"If we do not do it, the world will never know what the 23 million people in Taiwan want," she said. "The US should not deny Taiwanese this basic right."
Additional reporting by Flora Wang and Shih Hsiu-chuan
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