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Cabinet says referendum is legitimate

It is legitimate for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to initiate a "defensive referendum" on sovereignty on March 20 as Beijing has never stopped its intimidation of Taiwan, Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

"It is Beijing that wants to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait not us," Lin said. "While we're already an independent sovereign state, the `defensive referendum' doesn't have anything to do with our independence or unification but with safeguarding national security and sovereignty.

"Most of the people are so used to having Beijing set the deadline and call the shots, why it is not the other way around?" Lin asked.

"Such a negotiation model puts us in a bad position and I don't think it's fair to call it provocative if we change things around," Lin told reporters in response to US comments on the referendum.

Until the defensive referendum is held, Lin said, the Cabinet welcomes any suggestion regarding potential topics of the referendum.

"We're open to all kinds of questions such as the `one China, two system' policy or China's military buildup," he said. "We're confident that the US government understands and respects the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government's efforts to deepen democracy and let its people decide their own future via a popular vote."

Premier Yu Shyi-kun later told reporters that Chen personally told him on Monday that the defensive referendum can consider such a topic as China's military buildup.

"An appropriate topic for next year's `defensive referendum' should take into account the political and social situation when the referendum is held," Yu said.

Accenting that a "defensive referendum" has many functions, Yu said that the government will honor Chen's "five noes" while holding one.

"While China's political and military threats remain obvious, we'll honor Chen's `five noes' pledge and continue to offer goodwill gestures to China," Lin said.

The "five noes" refer to: no to declaring independence; no to changing Taiwan's formal name from the Republic of China; no to enshrining "state-to-state" in the Constitution; no to endorsing a referendum on formal independence; and no to abolishing either the National Reunification Council or the National Reunification Guidelines.

The "five noes," however, are on condition that China has no intention of using military force against Taiwan.

Under its "one China" policy, Beijing is suppressing Taiwan in three major areas: politics, defense and the economy, Lin said.

"On the political front, it continues to deny our sovereignty and belittle our status, including pressuring us to change our name in the World Trade Organization (WTO), blocking our bid to enter the World Health Organization (WHO) and preventing us from signing the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)," Lin said, adding that Taiwan is a member of 19 out of the world's some 6,000 international organizations.

It has also intimidated our diplomatic allies to switch ties, causing the number of the nation's diplomatic allies to drop from 32 in 1971 when the nation withdrew from the UN to 27.

On the military front, the Chinese regime has continued to increase its military buildup against Taiwan at a speed of 50 to 70 missiles every year.

To isolate the nation economically, Lin said China has warned countries suchh as the US, Japan and Singapore against signing free-trade agreements with the nation.
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