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Presidential election 2008: 19 days to go: Panel highlights role of referendums

Panelists at a forum organized by the Taiwan New Century Founda-tion yesterday warned that failure to pass the UN referendums would send a message to the world that Taiwan does not care about its role within the international community.

"Voters have the power to tell the world loud and clear that Taiwan is a sovereign country by passing the referendum to enter the UN under the name `Taiwan,'" Ketagalan Institute president Lee Hung-hsi (李鴻禧) said.

Taiwan will hold two referendums in tandem with the March 22 presidential election.

One referendum, proposed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), calls for the nation to join the UN as a new applicant using the name "Taiwan" rather than the country's official name "Republic of China [ROC]."

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) version asks voters to support a "return" to the UN under the name "ROC" -- the name used by the country at the UN before it forfeited its membership in 1971 -- or "any other practical names."

Lee called on Taiwanese not to allow themselves to be intimidated by China and the US, who have referred to the DPP's version as "provocative" and "not useful."

"Even if we only have a 40 percent voter turnout in the referendum, we must still let the world and the UN know that at least 40 percent of Taiwanese want to be part of the UN as citizens of Taiwan, not of the Republic of China," he said.

Chen Lung-chih (陳志隆), president of the foundation, said that the results of the referendums are legally binding and therefore should not be construed as massive public opinion polls.

Referendums, he said, are an effective tool for the people to rightfully keep the government in check, especially if the legislature is dominated by a single majority party, as is the case presently, with the pan-blue camp enjoying a two-thirds majority.

He said that China and other countries would have more "ammunition" to dismiss Taiwan's pursuit of self-determination if neither referendum succeeded.

Deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Society of International Laws Li Ming-juinn (李明峻) said that many precedents have been set by other countries, such as Switzerland, where referendums were held to decide whether they they should join international organizations.

Unlike Taiwan, however, Switzerland did not face foreign pressure when it held a referendum on UN membership in March 2002, he said.
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