Campaign Special ( Referendum ) - China wins as referendum fails

Chen Kuo-ho, the borough chief of Yingming borough in Kaohsiung City, along with some local residents, protests yesterday at a voting station after electoral workers refused to allow voters who forgot to vote for the referendum to re-enter the station. PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal to establish a "peace and stability framework" with China failed to win the general public's support in the nation's first-ever national referendum yesterday.

China did not give an official response to the referendum results as of press time last night.

The second question of the referendum read: "Would you agree that our government should engage in negotiation with China on the establishment of a peace and stability framework for cross-strait interactions in order to build consensus and for the welfare of the people on both sides?"

A referendum can only be declared valid when more than 50 percent of the total electorate takes part. However, the voting rate for the second referendum question only reached 45.11 percent.

Among Taiwan's 16,364,507 voters, 7,381,873 cast ballots for the second question. The number of "yes" votes stood at 6,264,937 and that of "no" votes at 542,094.

In Taiwan's 23 counties and cities, voting rates that exceeded 50 percent appeared in Kaohsiung, Yilan, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Pingtung and Chiayi, most of them strongholds of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The Mainland Affairs Council, which proposed the second referendum question, said it hoped Beijing could pay attention to the will of the Taiwanese people, and called for it to remove all preconditions for holding talks.

The council said it would continue promoting the government's related cross-strait measures. The establishment of a "peace and stability" framework will still be the government's priority in handling cross-strait affairs, it said.

Although the framework failed to gain majority support, the council said it hoped Beijing would notice the strong backing from both the DPP and the opposition parties for the framework plan.

Byron Weng (翁松燃), professor at the National Chi Nan University's department of public policy and administration, said the poor performance of the referendum would give the DPP government an opportunity to reflect on the process of calling for the vote.

The Chen administration will "feel its hands and feet bound" because of the referendum outcome when dealing with cross-strait affairs, but the government would have to consult the people again on ways to handle Beijing, he said.

Another negative impact of the referendum result is that it may influence how the international community views the Taiwanese people, Weng said.

Nevertheless, China, which has accused Taiwan of using the referendum to pave the way to independence, will now have no excuse to attack the mechanism because of the poor outcome, Weng said.

Chang Wu-yen (張五岳), secretary general of the Friends of Hong Kong and Macau Association, said "China would breath a sigh of relief after seeing the referendum outcome."

The referendum outcome will have little impact on Taiwan's internal politics, Chang said

"But it has successfully let the world see the serious missile threat Taiwan faces from China," he said.

Since the referendum has now been established, Chang said, China needed now to brace itself for the possibility that in the future, Taiwan may routinely hold referendums to tackle various issues.

After all, Taiwan has proved that establishing a referendum is something that can be achieved, Chang said.

Emily Lau (劉慧卿), Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmaker said: "For nearly half a century, the Taiwanese people have been fighting hard for democracy. ... I truly admire the Taiwanese people's insistence on democracy."