International society will pay more attention to the Taiwanese people's opinions when dealing with problems involving Taiwan's national status after the March referendum, government officials and academics said yesterday.
The Taiwan Thinktank hosted a symposium called "Referendum and Democracy in Taiwan" in Taipei to examine various issues that have emerged over the course of President Chen Shui-bian's (
Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), director of the Taiwan Thinktank's foreign policy studies, said that, after the March referendum, drastic changes will be seen in any international issues relating to Taiwan.
"It is because by then the people of Taiwan will have been given the channel to directly decide vital issues concerning the country's future and national status," Lai said.
"The international society, when handling the Taiwan problem, will have to consider the consequences of confronting the will of the Taiwanese people," he said.
One of 10 invited speakers to the symposium, Lai delivered a paper with the title The Referendum and the Trilateral Relations between the US, China and Taiwan.
The referendum will systematize the way the people of Taiwan influence international affairs concerning their nation, Lai said. He is also a member of the delegation organized by the National Security Council (NSC) to lobby for Washington's support for the vote.
Although the delegation finally canceled its trip to the US, Japan and France both expressed concerns about the referendum. Lai said Taiwan would do its international standing harm if it bows to international pressure to give up the referendum now.
Citing China, Japan and the US as the major players in international matters involving Taiwan, Lai said the referendum would create some pressure for these countries.
"As a result, some changes will become possible. These changes will give Taiwan new [international] space," he said.
Refuting criticism that the referendum is merely a campaign strategy by Chen to draw votes, Lai said that if this is the case, the referendum mechanism established over the months will likely be shelved after the presidential election.
The problem is, Lai said, that critics making this allegation also tend to think that the referendum is a step in Chen's plan toward Taiwan's independence. This exposes the critics' belief that the referendum will have an ongoing impact on the country even after the election.
NSC Senior Advisor Lin Wen-cheng (林文程) said the greatest danger Taiwan is facing now is not China's missiles, but "the people's unawareness of the real extent of the missile threat."
China has been increasing its military presence in Nanjing and expanding its South Sea fleet over the years, Lin said.
"China's military threat has grown enormously compared with what it was 10 years ago," he said.
It is China which has attempted to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, Lin said.
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