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Lu calls for firmness in the face of US complaints

"Referendums are held in democracies all around the world ... We are doing the right thing. We cannot flinch simply because somebody says something."

Annette Lu, vice president

Amid speculation that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might openly oppose the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-sponsored referendum seeking UN membership under the name "Taiwan," Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that the country must not balk in the face of US opposition.

"Referendums are held in democracies all around the world," she said. "We are doing the right thing. We cannot flinch simply because somebody says something."

Lu said Article 19 of the Election and Recall Law of Civil Servants (公職人員選罷法) states that when an election is held concurrently with a referendum, voters must cast their ballots inside a polling station on one occasion and they cannot return to the station to cast another ballot after they leave.

"How come everybody forgets this?" she said. "This is a serious matter. Let's not talk about politics, but look at the letters of the law."

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) might have studied law and graduated from Harvard University, she said, but he did not seem to understand the law itself.

"Let's respect the law and abide by it," she said.

Meanwhile, an official with the Presidential Office said the US government has over-estimated the impact of the DPP's proposed UN referendum.

The official, who requested to remain anonymous, said it would be meaningless if higher ranking US officials came out to oppose the referendum because Washington has already made its position clear.

"As far as I know, there are different voices in Washington," the official said. "Some question whether their repeated opposition is appropriate or effective."

The official said the administration understood US efforts to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait ahead of the elections, but it remained to be seen whether the "status quo" in the Strait would be changed if the DPP referendum passed.

Any speculation at this time on the impact of the referendum and its meaning was just wishful thinking, the official said.

In related news, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) yesterday urged the US government to understand that the people of Taiwan have the ability and wisdom to handle the referendum issue properly.

Huang, who is due back today from a visit to Central American and Caribbean allies, declined to comment on speculation that top US officials would openly oppose the DPP-sponsored referendum.

The Mainland Affairs Council called on Washington yesterday to support Taiwan's democracy rather than suppress it.

The US' "unfair treatment has seriously damaged the basic rights of the people of Taiwan," the council said in a statement.

"It violates the founding spirit of the Unites States of America to appease China's bullying behavior," the council said.

"It risks helping China gain regional hegemony, which is not in the interest of the US in the Asia-Pacific region," the council said.

The council urged Washington not to be misled by China.
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