It is only natural for democratic countries to have referendums and it is wrong to say that the holding of a referendum will trigger cross-strait war, the head of a Taiwan delegation to Europe said on Sunday.
Byron Weng (
According to Weng, the holding of a defensive referendum will galvanize Taiwanese and make them concerned about the fate of the nation.
There is nothing wrong with Taiwan holding a referendum, but because Beijing has interpreted the plan as a move toward Taiwan independence and, according to Weng, have influenced the views of the US, which is currently preoccupied with Iraq and North Korea, the US has expressed misgivings about the planned referendum.
"The government's decision to push through the referendum on March 20 will not be changed because of the views of foreign governments," Weng said.
Chuang Suo-han (莊碩漢), delegation member and vice minister of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, also addressed concerns on the theme, timing and possible effects of the referendum.
He said the referendum will be held on March 20 to coincide with the presidential election because the turnout rate for the presidential election will be high and it is better to have more people participating in public policy debate.
The other reason is to save money, Chuang said, adding that if the referendum is held separately from the presidential election, the cost would reach NT$500 million (US$14.7 million).
Huang Wei-feng (
On the agenda of the referendum, the delegation members said only that they will bring back the views from all sides for the reference of the government.
Nearly 100 overseas Chinese and students attended the meeting.
The delegation had already met with two French parliamentarians and was scheduled to meet with news media yesterday.
The delegation's next stop will be Strasbourg, where it will visit the European Parliament before continuing on to Berlin today.
Meanwhile, officials expressed hope yesterday a government delegation can visit Washington later this month to seek US support for a Chen's proposed referendum.
Chiou Chwei-liang (邱垂亮), national policy adviser to the president, said the US is worried about hosting the delegation while the referendum's final wording has not been finalized.
He acknowledged that the referendum issue has "strained the relationship," but did not believe the problem was very serious.
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